A Study of the Epicness that is Chlenel
by Xonel
Summary: Various points in their epic relationship.  Some are connected, some are not, some never happened, some are just for kicks.  Yes, it is rated T- for language, as well as potential blood, violence, and disturbing themes.  The usual.
1. Chapter 1

Xonel: So in order to let you guys know I'm still alive, haven't forgotten this fandom, and am still working on the next chapter of How Valens Went Insane, I decided to force myself to write some Chlenel (I love the sound of that) drabbles. All I did was go to a site called Seventh Sanctum, found a story generator, and came up with some quick stories based on what it, er, generated. Yeah...

So the list of what it generated is below. Some of them may be linked together, but most of them stand on their own. And as a warning, the last probably won't be as funny if you haven't read The Wheel of Time. Bonus points to anyone who knows who the "character" that Senel and Chloe are talking about in 8 is!

1. The story is set on a wrecked ship.

2. The story takes place ten years in the past.

3. During the story, a character is forced to go shopping.

4. A character is questioning throughout most of the story.

5. A character becomes enraged during the story.

6. The story must involve a whip in it.

7.A character will eat a meal.

8. A character gives someone a good talking-to, and they are surprisingly over enthused about it.

9. The story must have a tiger in it.

10. A character is wiser throughout most of the story.

...xXx...

1. Shipwreck

"I knew it. I just _knew_ that one day fate would decide that it hates me and force me to take part in a shipwreck!"

"Chloe, calm down. We'll be fine."

"Fine? We're shipwrecked on a deserted island, Coolidge! I doubt we'll be 'fine'!"

"Look, some of the cargo's survived. We can probably find enough food to last us for a couple of days while we explore the island. I'm sure there's some edible plants and if not we can always hunt."

Chloe took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "You're right. We'll be fine, and the others will come searching for us when we don't show up on time."

Senel nodded, looking toward the horizon. After a moment, he turned around. "Before we search the cargo, let's get a fire going. That's our best bet of anyone finding us."

Chloe nodded absently, her own gaze now locked on the faint line between sea and sky. "Coolidge...?"

Senel stopped his trek further up the beach. "Hm?"

Something about this island was... off.

Chloe shook her head. It was probably nothing. "Nevermind. Let's go."

2. Past

He parried, twisting the wooden practice blade in his hands, then brought it up over his head and slashed down on his opponent's right side. The blow was blocked, but he managed to sidestep away from a counter-attack aimed at his knees. His opponent leapt back to put some distance between them, but he was relentless. He performed a series of thrusts with his weapon, ending in a feint that his opponent readily fell for. With a swift flick of his wrist, he disarmed his opponent, then brought the tip of his blade to their throat.

His opponent frowned. "Well played, Sir Valens."

Rolan Valens lowered his sword and gave a shallow bow. With hardly any effort, a small smile graced his features. "Always a pleasure, Sir Gavin. Perhaps the terrain was better suited to my position than yours."

They both knew that was a lie. Rolan knew the politeness he displayed grated on Sir Gavin's nerves, but he couldn't help it. It was far too much fun to mess with him.

The other man scowled. "Perhaps." He gave a short bow, then left the courtyard of the Valen's estate to put away his practice sword.

Rolan shook his head slightly. That man was far too serious, in his opinion. Too serious, and not at all concerned enough with the true meaning of being a knight. Rolan supposed it made a bit of sense- after all, he was still fairly young, only twenty-six, and had lost his father recently to a nasty case of the consumption. But that shouldn't excuse the man's behavior. He had become cynical, and Rolan feared that his thirst for power would get the better of him one day.

"That was amazing, Father!"

All dark thoughts of the young man's future left him as Rolan turned to see his daughter racing toward him across the yard. He found himself beaming with pride as he lifted her up in his arms, causing her to laugh in delight.

"Were you watching from the stables again?" he asked, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "You know your mother doesn't want you getting your clothes dirty."

Chloe pouted. "But I like to watch you spar and the stables have the best view."

Rolan chuckled. "Do they, now?"

"Uh huh. I wish I could fight like you, father."

Rolan placed Chloe back on the ground and knelt down. "I know you do. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I think your old enough to start learning." It wasn't long ago that Chloe had stumbled across an eres stone and picked it up. Almost immediately, the stone had started to glow- a sure sign that she was a powerful eren.

Chloe's face lit up. "Really? You'll start teaching me?"

Rolan chuckled. "Well, we have to talk to your mother about it first, but I don't think she'll have a problem with it. After all," Rolan lowered his voice like he was sharing a secret, "she knows how to fight too."

Awe filled his seven-year-old daughter's face. "Really? Mother can fight, too?"

Rolan nodded seriously. "Of course. We're a family of knights, Chloe. It is our duty to be able to protect the weak and uphold justice. You're mother is one of the bravest and most powerful warriors I have ever known. She only chooses not to show it very often."

Confusion caused Chloe's eyebrows to scrunch up together. "Why not?"

An odd expression that his daughter did not understand crossed Rolan's face. "Because people don't appreciate just how great she is, Chloe." Rolan stood up, taking his daughter's small hand, smile returning. "Now then. If I recall, you want to learn the sword, am I right?"

Chloe beamed. "Of course!"

Rolan chuckled again. "Alright, then. Let's go talk to your mother."

...xXx...

"Pathetic," the man spat.

Senel tried to keep his fists raised, tried to ignore the pain in his blackened eye, and tried to ignore all the scraps and cuts he had accumulated from falling down so many times.

"Is that all you've got, boy? I thought you were supposed to an eren."

When he had been taken into the Crusandi military camp, he had immediately been given some sort of test. All he had to do was hold a rock, but he was one of the few people who made the rock glow and ever since then the cruel soldiers who had destroyed his home had forced him to fight. They said he was an eren, something he had only heard of in stories, and were trying to make him uncover his dormant powers.

"Well?" the man barked. "Are you going to attack me or are you going to stand there like the pathetic dog that you are?"

"Sorry, Commander," Senel said immediately.

He was so tired. It was a miracle that he hadn't already collapsed. But he knew that if he didn't do something they would only make him train harder next time. He didn't want that to happen. He was tired of getting bruised and battered every day.

Suddenly Senel felt very desperate. He forced himself to rush toward his opponent, getting ready for another attack. He didn't even notice when his nails started to glow.

Vaclav smiled. Perhaps the boy wasn't useless after all.

3. Gift

"Stop complaining like a child. We're doing this for your own good, Senel," Jay said in clipped tones.

"Ya already screwed up the first time by forgettin' altogether. We won't let you do that again," Moses added, as he shoved Senel though the door of the shop.

"Although, to be fair, Chloe really should have seen it coming." Will followed the three of them, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "If it took Senel that long to realize she had feelings for him, it should come as no surprise that he would forget their wedding anniversary."

"Will, not you too!" Senel knocked Moses' shoving hands away from him. "Look, that was only one time! Besides, I had been fighting monsters all week! It was going to slip my mind nomatter what!"

Jay crossed his arms. "It was going to slip your mind because your incurably forgetful. I honestly think Chloe could have done far better."

Senel fumed. "Hey, that's my _wife _your talking about!"

Moses only laughed. "Yeah, Jay. What's the matter? Jealous?"

Jay's expression turned to one of mixed horror and shock. "What? Of course not!"

Will cleared his throat. "That's enough, you two. We're here so that Senel can pick out something meaningful that will show Chloe that he cares about her. If you two are still too immature to remain civil for the amount of time that will take, I suggest you wait outside."

Jay crossed his arms and frowned. "I would have no problem at all being civil if it weren't for a certain stupid bandit."

Moses laughed heartily. "Aw, yer just jealous cuz yer the last one to find yerself a woman."

Will sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait outside, you two!"

Moses chuckled. "No problem, Will. Let's go, bro!"

Senel shook his head as Moses dragged an unwilling Jay back outside. "Thanks, Will. I can think a lot more clearly without the two of them around."

"Indeed." Will let out a breath. "Well, there's plenty to choose from here. I'm not sure what you would want to get her, but I suggest you make it something meaningful. Something special specifically to her that reflects the relationship between the two of you."

"Yeah, I know," Senel said distractedly, flipping through a catalog of the shop's wares that were listed by category. "Hey, Will?"

"Hm?"

"What's lingerie?"

Will smacked his forehead. "Something that will undoubtedly earn you a stab wound."

4. Interrogation

"Dammit, Sandor! If you know something, you had better tell me right now!"

"C, calm down!"

Chloe ignored Norma, not willing to tell her friend to shut up for once and instead focused all of her rage and confusion on the man in front of her. "Where is Senel?"

Moses raised his hands in defense. "I told ya, Chloe! I don't know where he is! He just said he was gonna be away for a few days!"

Chloe continued to glare at him, searching his face for any sign that he was lying. She found none.

"No one knows where he went, C," Norma said, her voice surprisingly gentle. "He left before you made it back to the Legacy..." She placed a hand on her tense friend's shoulder.

Chloe forced her finger's to lose their grip on the hilt of her sword and let her hand fall to her side. "Why would he leave like this..?"

5. Rage

It was late, about eleven thirty, when Senel finally walked in through the door.

He pulled off his gloves, made his way slowly to the couch, and immediately collapsed next to Chloe.

"Hey, Chloe," he said tiredly.

"You're home late," was her flat reply.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I spent all day trying to look for the perfect gift."

"Oh." Her voice lifted at that. "Did you... Did you find it?" She stood up. He followed and she led him to the table where she had set up the candles for the meal she had spent so long preparing.

"No..." Senel's shoulders slumped. "I never know what to get Shirley for her birthday."

Silence.

"Senel..." Chloe made her way back to him, smiling from ear to ear. Her voice was low, "You do remember what today is, don't you?"

Senel felt fear starting to creep in and racked his brain. He knew that whenever his wife got like this, she was furious with him. And usually for a good reason. "Um... Friday..?" he answered hopefully.

Chloe's face immediately turned to one of pure rage, fire dancing behind her eyes. "It's our anniversary, Senel."

6. Enemy

Coolidge sent a Demon Fist toward their opponent, and Chloe immediately followed with a blow to their enemy's head, giving it just enough force to knock them out.

Ever since she had spared Alcott's life, she had vowed that she would never again try to kill.

But every time they fought one of these Vaclav loyalists who used a whip as their weapon of choice, a small part of her couldn't help but want to. Whips were a symbol of Crusand, one of their most preferred weapons. They were a symbol of the enemy who had tried to take over her country.

Chloe was many things, and she liked to think that she was merciful when carrying out her duties as a knight. But it scared her just how big an effect the mere sight of an enemy's weapon could have on her.

7. Meal

Senel sighed, and scratched at the annoying stubble that had taken up residence on his face over the past few weeks. He had asked Chloe a few days ago if he could borrow her sword to shave it off. She had replied bluntly, saying that her sword was not to be used for mundane purposes. She had added that she thought it looked good on him. He thought it looked weird. Besides, it was itchy.

His stomach grumbled, and Senel groaned. They had run out of food from the ship's cargo five days after they were shipwrecked, and had been eating bananas, coconuts, and tuna ever since. It didn't take long for both him and Chloe to get tired of eating the same meal so often, so he had decided to journey further into the trees on the island and look for something better to eat. His mission had ended in failure.

Senel let his make-shift spear- a sharpened stick- drag behind him on the ground as he started to make his way back to their camp on the shore.

When he emerged from the thick foliage, he was tackled. It took him a moment to realize Chloe was hugging him fiercely.

"What's going on..?"

"You were right, Coolidge. They found us."

Chloe released him and he squinted to see a ship making its way toward the island. He smiled.

Hours later, despite the many jokes Moses and Norma aimed at him and his facial hair, Senel ate the best meal he had ever had. Of course, that may have been because Chloe was literally rubbing shoulders with him the entire time, despite having plenty of extra room on the bench.

8. Character

Senel shook his head, reflecting on the play they had just watched. "Man. That girl who used the blue fire was something else. I don't think I've ever seen a character so evil, I mean does she eat kittens or something?"

Chloe turned toward him, frowning. "You're not serious, are you, Coolidge?"

"Of course I am! I mean, she was willing to kill her brother and her uncle and she went freaking insane at the end!"

"Coolidge, there's more to her character than just what appears on stage, don't you see that?"

"I-"

"Look at her father. He was an evil man who wanted nothing but power and used his own children in order to obtain it! He may have pretended to love her, but he didn't. He didn't love her any more than he loved her brother. He saw her as a tool- one that was very useful which he could use in order to finally conquer the world! At the end she finally realizes that when he goes to battle their enemies and abandons her, leaving her to rule their kingdom! Of course she went insane after that, who wouldn't?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And just look at her mother! From what we saw, her mother wasn't the best of parents either! She couldn't have been if her own daughter thought of herself as a monster! Her mother thought something was seriously wrong with her and instead of doing anything about it she just let her husband continue to corrupt their daughter! And why? Because she loved her son so much! I mean, sure, there's nothing wrong with loving your son, but you should never prefer one child over the other!"

"Chloe-"

"And just look at the rest of her family! Her brother hated her, her uncle thought she was crazy even before her break-down, and who knows what her cousin thought! There was that one navy officer who seemed a little too friendly with her which can't be healthy for a fourteen-year-old to be thinking about, her friends turned against her- which admittedly, was the right thing to do but it still must have hurt and seemed like outright betrayal in her eyes- she even admitted herself guys were afraid of her, and then she's defeated by someone who, in her eyes, is nothing more than a peasant! You have to put yourself in a character's position and mindset before you criticize them, Coolidge!"

Senel opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then sighed. "Alright, you've got a point. Several, actually. I still think she got what she deserved, though."

"Well, of course."

Senel blinked. "Wait, what? You think so too? Even after everything you just said?"

"Well, yes. Now she might be able to start healing."

Senel shook his head. "I really just don't understand you sometimes, Chloe."

9. Wildlife

"We'll be fine. Will told me that there's only one species of monster here that regularly attacks humans and they're extremely rare. I doubt we'll come across one."

Chloe frowned, not convinced. "What do they look like."

"He said they're orange with black stripes, and they look like big cats. They're called tigers, but like I said, they're incredibly rare. Will showed me a picture of one. They're really cool, actually."

Chloe stopped, dead in her tracks. "Is that a tiger?"

Senel's gaze followed Chloe's index finger. "Um, yeah. It is."

Chloe sighed. The monster charged at them. "I hope you realize that if you get hurt during this battle you deserve it."

"Hey, I didn't_ mean_ to forget all the gels!"

10. Paranoid

"I just don't understand it, Norma. He's like an entirely new person!"

"New as in bad or good?"

Chloe frowned. "Good, but its still disturbing. It's like... It's like suddenly he understands women and knows just what to say or do to stay on my good side!"

"Ooh, that is strange. Do you think he found your stash of pirate romance novels?"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Chloe narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to regret ever letting you find out about that, aren't I?"

"Probably. Anyway, what's he been doing?"

"Just really... sweet and romantic things. Like he's actually been complimenting the way I look, he hasn't said a single stupid thing about how 'strong' I am, and he's actually been very careful about the way Shirley comes up in our conversations."

"Wow. That_ is_ weird. What else has he done?"

"Well, he's started taking me on real dates instead of just monster hunts. Like he took me ice-skating near the Ice Monument, and then when I was really upset one day- I forgot the reason why- he smiled and said we should go dancing."

Norma shook her head, sipping her seasonal eggnog latte. "Who knew Senny could actually be sensitive? When did this all start?"

Chloe took a sip of her own black coffee. "Um... I think it was around the time that Raynard lent him all these books. It was some fantasy series, I think. You don't think he started acting like this because of that, do you?"

...xXx...

"I'm telling you, Moses, these books are amazing! This Robert Jordan guy is a genius when it comes to women!"

...xXx...

Xonel: Reviews are always much appreciated, even if I don't respond until months later :)


	2. Chapter 2

Xonel: So I decided to do another one of these as I continue to get inspiration for the next chapter of How Valens Went Insane. I hope you enjoy them!

On a side note, I'm surprised no one has figured out the character in #8 last chapter. Well, if no one figures it out by the next time I update (either this, or HVWI) I'll just spoil it for everyone and reveal who the "character" was.

As usual, I own nothing. Here's the list of prompts:

1. A character becomes confused during the story.

2. The story must have an ant in it.

3. A character writes a diary.

4. During the story, a way of life comes to an end.

5. During the story, a character is attacked.

6. During the story, a character is in a vehicular accident.

7. During the story, a character eats something that disagrees with them.

8. A character gives birth.

9. During the story, a character finds out a dark secret.

10. The story takes place in the early morning.

1. Memory

One minute, he and Chloe were walking right beside eachother through the thick forest of the island and the next he was completely alone in the middle of a thick fog. He could hear running water somewhere vaguely in front of him, beyond the strange... _thing_.

The "thing" appeared to be a doorway or something. It was a perfectly symmetrical silvery arch that came to a point at the very center. Somehow the area within the arch seemed to be covered in a thicker fog than what surrounded it, but that couldn't possibly be right.

In front of the arch-thing was a woman..._ thing_. She was ethereal and ghostly, to the point where she almost blended in with the fog around her. Her entire being was silvery in color to match the arch-thing and she wore long, plain, flowing robes. Wispy hair swirled gently around her, as if being blown by a gentle breeze Senel couldn't feel. Her face was sharp and angular, her eyes nothing more than uniformly silver orbs within slanted, almond-shaped sockets.

"Are you one who is brave enough to face what is to come?"

Senel knew this was one of those moments in life in which he should try to come up with some profound response, but all he could manage was a pathetic, "Huh?"

"If you wish to know what is to come, you may pass through the Door. If you are able to endure the Revelation, then you shall gain the favor of the Creator and be spared from withholding the knowledge which you have been given."

Senel blinked, his mind unable to wrap around what the woman-thing had just said. "So... what happens if I _can't_ endure it?"

"The moment the Revelation becomes too much for you to handle, it will immediately be stopped. However, you must then carry out the rest of your days holding that knowledge within you."

Senel nodded slowly, still working out what had just been said to him in his mind. "So... If I walk through that door-thing I'll see my future? Is that what you mean?"

"Yes."

"And if I'm able to handle it, I'll forget it afterward?"

"Yes."

Senel scratched his head. "Well, that doesn't make sense. What if I want to remember it?"

"You will not want to remember." Senel fully felt the ominous implications behind that. "It is not your place to remember." That had ominous implications, too.

Senel crossed his arms, suddenly feeling cold. Where had Chloe gone? For some reason he was incredibly anxious, frightened even, and he could use her opinion right now. What would she do if she was faced with a decision like this?

As if he even needed to ask. She'd dive right in.

As a matter of fact, wouldn't he normally dive right in, too? Where was this sudden timidity coming from? He knew it was a somewhat stupid thing to wish for, but where was his usual brash bull-headedness?

With that thought, he made his decision.

"Alright. I'll enter."

When he emerged again, Senel didn't remember a thing, and wondered what the heck he was doing in the middle of the forest on the island.

2. Insomnia

It wasn't the first incredibly stupid thing she had done. It didn't even make the top of the list, although it was high up there. No, "almost murdering Elsa's dad" was still number one, but this was at least two or three.

She stared at her finger, watching as a tiny ant crawled over her knuckle.

She didn't know how long she had been out here in the wilderness, wandering the Legacy alone. She didn't know how long it had been since her hastily-packed supplies had run out, and she didn't know how many days she had gone without a wink of sleep. She couldn't help it. Senel had disappeared, telling no one at all any details. All he had left was a very short note, addressed to her, which read:

"Sorry, Chloe. I hope you don't worry."

Idiot. How was she supposed to _not _be worried? The least he could have done was write "I'll be back soon", then she could be mad at him and call him a liar when he was never heard from again.

"Despicable."

She didn't know who she was referring to; Senel, herself, or that stupid ant. Probably herself. With her unoccupied hand she scrubbed her eyes, willing them to stay open. She had fallen asleep the night she had found Senel's letter- after she had asked Norma, found out Sandor was the last to see Senel, and then interrogated him. She had had horrible nightmares: images and emotions and brief clips that rivaled even her old dreams of her parents' murder. In a way, they were even worse because she didn't know whether they were of something real or not- she prayed they weren't.

"I don't suppose you've seen a lovely white-haired idiot run through here, have you?" she asked the ant. Then she blinked, almost wanting to laugh. It had sounded so stupid and in a way cliché, yet it fit her feelings at the moment so perfectly.

"Of course you haven't."

And in an instant of cruelty usually uncharacteristic of her, she flicked the ant off her hand, hoping she had killed it, and continued her pursuit.

3. Angst

_June 12th, Year 29, The Third Age_

_Dear Diary,_

_I know not how long I can endure this torment._

_Every time I see him a wave of emotion the likes of which cannot be fathomed overtakes me. Have I fallen into madness? I fear that I have._

_Oh, but how can I be mad when my heart is telling me that this is right? How can this overwhelming sensation possibly wrong?_

_His voice, his eyes, his gentle hand... He holds in his pocket my beating heart..._

_But he is not aware that it is so. I try to tell him through gentle nudges and subtle hints, but he is blind to my efforts._

_Am I to simply accept my fate? Must I simply resolve to forever be the forgotten one? The one left in the dark? The one left alone?_

_For I know he loves another. I have seen the way he looks at her. Golden hair, with a gentle curl, that's the one he desires. Not me and my ordinary self._

_I aught not be surprised. For it is as Father says, all men desire the same thing. And it is as mother says, all men are despicable creatures._

_But soft, did not mine own mother fall in love with my father? For it is not in her nature to stand to make such a commitment without sincerity. Nay, if nothing else, my mother is one of noble character._

_And my father, is he not different from what he describes? Is he despicable? Does he only desire one thing? I think not. He too, is one of noble character._

_Thus, I shall endure. I shall persist until this sensation lifts, or I shall become a sorry wretch myself._

_I shall do as mine bosom-friend has advised all along and I shall boldly profess my feelings to my love. If rejection be in my future, then I only hope that I am able to withstand the stabbing pain._

_~Coolidge_

The door opened.

Estelle quickly thrust her diary under her pillow. "Geez, Mom! Would it kill you to knock?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. She didn't remember being like this when she was a teenager. But then again, her teenage years hadn't been exactly normal. "Sorry," she said with just a hint of sarcasm. "Dinner's ready, honey. Your brother's already downstairs."

Estelle huffed as her mother left the room and quickly retrieved her diary to lock it and place it in a better hiding place in a hidden panel of her desk.

Her mother was one of those people who always said "I know how you feel".

There was no way that would be true in this case.

4. Vengeance

Steel plunged into flesh.

Alcott fell to the ground.

Chloe withdrew her sword from his body with a sickening sucking sound and had to resist the urge to spill her lunch right then and there. She took only a moment to steady herself, then turned away from his body, now lifeless.

She had done it, but she felt no satisfaction. She knew she wouldn't, but it wasn't about satisfaction. It was about justice. No one was above the law. As a knight she could not let someone slip through the cracks by the grace of mercy. She had only done her duty.

Right?

Yes. Of course.

And now she was a killer.

Now she herself had to face justice. Not for killing Alcott, no he had earned his fate. No, it was for Cooli- No. It was for Senel's death that she would face justice, and she would not soften her fate by referring to him impersonally.

She wandered back into the woods, making sure to get herself lost. She hoped she was never found, she didn't deserve to be found or remembered. She was vaguely aware that night had fallen, and with it a storm had closed in and was now soaking her with tiny drops of remembrance.

Ironic that all of these events should come to their conclusion while the skys were grey and weeping, as they had been when these events had first been set into motion. The sky had been weeping with cruel laughter then, and it was now, as if it knew her fate and knew just how right it was that it should come to this.

She had taken an innocent life. She had taken Coo- Senel's life. His was the only one she regretted, not Alcott's. Alcott was not innocent. He wasn't.

She fell to her knees, overcome with exhaustion now that the adrenaline had left her. She blinked rapidly and somehow managed to convince herself that the wetness on her cheeks was only from the rain, nothing else.

She had killed him. She had killed the one who had shown her true friendship. She had killed the one for whom she had once held the utmost respect. She had killed the one who had unknowingly reminded her of her own father.

_I don't regret Alcott's death. I don't. Only Senel's._

A whimper escaped her lips as she thought of Elsa. Would she, who was the very picture of innocence turn into a monster as she had? Would she seek revenge and destroy herself in the process as she had?

Resolve hardened once again, Chloe took up her sword, holding it tightly by the blade, drawing blood from her hands.

With a single, wordless cry, she spoke the exact emotions that had been plaguing her since the Shadow had first appeared to her. She was a knight no more, but a killer. A murderer.

For the third time that night, her sword met flesh and Chloe Valens took her third life.

5. Dance

Senel sighed. He didn't know why he was down, he just was. He shouldn't be, considering the fact that he was at a celebration party for their victory over Schwartz. Still, here he was. The only guy who wasn't dancing or, Nerifes forbid, singing. The worst part was, his gaze kept turning to the one_ girl_ who wasn't dancing or singing and he kept wondering _why _his gaze kept falling on her.

He thought maybe it was because she should be dancing and having fun. Yeah, that was it.

"Yo, Senel."

Senel looked up to see a grinning bandit. "What is it, Moses?"

"You gonna ask her to dance, or what?"

"Why would I ask Chloe to dance?" he replied before thinking.

"Uh... Actually I meant Shirley."

"Huh? Oh, right..."

Moses' eyebrows rose. "You alrigh' there, Senel?"

"I'm fine." Suddenly, he was irritated. "Shouldn't you be dancing with Norma right now?" he asked in a condescending tone.

Moses frowned. "Tch, I was. I told her I'd be back in a few minutes cuz I was worried 'bout _yer_ mopin' butt. I don't see why ya don't just ask her to dance."

"Did you ever think maybe I just don't want to?"

Moses grinned. "Ya know what? I dare ya to."

Senel scowled. "Dare me to what?"

"Ask her to dance."

Senel crossed his arms. "No."

"Are ya not man enough?"

"What are you talking about? Just mind your own business, Moses."

"Yup. Yer not man enough."

Senel was almost ready to explode. "Would you shut up?"

"Then do it."

"Fine! I will!" Senel searched the crowd. "Where's Shirley?"

"I ain't talkin' 'bout Shirley."

"What?"

"Ask Chloe to dance."

"Are you insane? Do you want me to die with a sword _and_ a pen in me?"

Moses laughed. "Ah knew it! Ya just ain't man enough to do it!"

"Alright, fine! You know what? I _will_ ask Chloe to dance, and I _will _make _you_ shut up!"

And Senel did ask Chloe to dance. Blushing, and slightly worried at what Shirley would think, Chloe accepted, giving in to her still-tender feelings toward the Marine. Senel asked at the perfect time, too, because Curtis had decided to shut up and let the orchestra play a slow waltz.

Things were going perfectly until Chloe asked, somewhat hesitantly, why Senel had suddenly decided he wanted to dance with her.

And Senel, completely missing the implications of her words, replied, "Moses said I wasn't man enough to ask you to dance."

A moment later, he stalked back to Moses, who was trying to suppress his laughter, rubbing the bruise that was already forming on his face.

6. Flight

After Schwartz was defeated, it came as little of a surprise that Will Raynard, renowned "nerd" of the Legacy, was an adamant supporter of researching and possibly reconstructing any and all technology found hidden within the base of the Legacy that had once been the cleverly named "white-rectangular-ship".

One of the very first things he and his team of researchers (meaning his friends, of whom only Jay showed any sign of being eager) had uncovered was a set of eight machines that roughly looked like a horse saddle with a set of wings on it. With the help of some of the townspeople, they managed to carry one of them up from the Quiet Lands, up the elevator, and back to Will's front yard.

During the time Will spent working on it, Chloe found that she suddenly had no paperwork to work on and no monsters to exterminate. As a result, she decided to do some research of her own and asked Senel to accompany her. Norma, who always seemed to overhear things, insisted on going.

"So we're going to fight dragons..?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes. I want to see just how physically powerful they are."

"I think Teach has gotten to you, C."

"It's not like you had to come, Norma," Senel snapped.

"What's the matter? You two wanted some alone time?"

"No!" they both replied automatically.

"Besides, if you two are gonna be fighting dragons, don't you think a healer will come in handy

Neither Chloe nor Senel chose to respond to that.

The three continued walking until they came to the mouth of a cave.

"Alright, so before we go in there do you mind telling me why you wanna mess with one of these things, C?"

Senel turned to the knight. "Yeah, Chloe. Why_ are_ you suddenly interested in dragons?"

"Well..." Chloe turned away from the both of them, her cheeks taking on a slightly pink hue. "I know it sounds crazy, but while I was coming back to the Legacy after visiting Gadoria this last year I was wondering if there was any possible way to travel over the ocean without being in a boat..."

"And..?" they both said expectantly.

"Well, then I thought, who hasn't ever dreamt of flying at least once in their life? And then it hit me." She gestured to the cave.

"Wait a minute, Chloe," Senel shook his head. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you? That's crazy!"

"Wait, what?" Realization dawned on Norma's face. "Are you serious, C?"

"Don't worry, I know its a risky idea. I don't want to do anything too risky right now, I just want to see if they look strong enough for the job. Besides, doesn't the title "Dragon Knight" sound cool?"

That day, the three of them made their way back to Werites Beacon very thankful that Norma had been there after all, and hoped that they didn't look too battered despite the fact that she had managed to heal their more serious wounds.

About a week later, Chloe was disappointed when Will finally got his salvaged machine to work and found out that it was intended for flight. Her disappoinment didn't last long, however, because the machine sputtered after only five minutes and came crashing to the ground, bringing the researcher with it.

Thankfully, Will escaped injury. And even more importantly, Chloe still might become a Dragon Knight after all.

7. Improvement

Damon Coolidge scowled. "How was I-" He immediately clamped his mouth shut, regretting he had opened it in the first place.

"I warned you," his sister said in a sing-song voice.

"Estelle, leave him alone and go outside with your mother. I'm sure she could use help explaining to Harriet why Damon suddenly started throwing up."

Estelle paled, but did as she was told.

Damon hesitantly opened his mouth, making sure he wasn't about to vomit any more, before speaking. "Actually, I didn't eat anything Mrs. Harriet cooked. I was gonna say how was I supposed to know I'm allergic to shellfish?"

Senel's eyes widened. "Oh, uh..." He ran after his daughter. "Estelle, wait! Don't say anything to Harriet!"

8. Names

Senel nervously walked back into the room. He remembered distinctly his wife throwing very un-knightly obscenities his way as he lost consciousness and dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes only a few minutes ago. He imagined he had been dragged out of the room by Will and Moses to give the doctors more room, but now he had been informed rather bluntly that "The bloody part is over now, Mr. Coolidge, you can go back in."

Senel gulped, closing the door behind him. At least he hadn't run out before he had even seen any blood, like he did when his son was born. He glanced at his wife, who was holding the bundle that was undoubtedly their daughter. She seemed to have calmed down. Hopefully she had only cussed him out earlier because of the pain. Senel felt a fresh stab of guilt as he thought about that.

He sat in a chair next to his wife, who gave him an amused smile. "It's funny how a renowned warrior like yourself is so squeamish in these situations."

"Chloe, I'm sorry. I really a-"

"I'm not mad, Senel."

Senel relaxed at her gentle tone and turned his attention to their newborn daughter. Chloe caught his gaze and smiled. "She has your eyes," she said.

Senel stood back up and found his arm wrapping around Chloe's shoulders as he sat on the edge of the bed to get a better look. Indeed, blue-green orbs looked back at him curiously from inside the bundle. "She's beautiful," he murmured. And indeed, she was. She had his eyes, and her skin tone was darker than her brother's, more like his own. Senel was grateful, however, that the tiny tufts of hair at the top of her head were dark like her mother's. Chloe's hair was, in his opinion, one of her best physical attributes, second only to her eyes.

"We_ have_ to decide on a name, now," Chloe said quietly. They had been trying to decide on a name for her for the past couple of months, but hadn't come to a clear decision.

"How about Estelle?"

Chloe had suggested they name her after Stella. Senel had refused. For some reason the idea just didn't seem completely right to him. He had suggested they name her after Chloe's mother, Ellen, but she wasn't too keen on that idea either. She seemed to like the idea of her mother's name being their daughter's middle name, just as they had done for their son, Damon. "Estelle" just seemed to come to him at that moment, and once he thought about it, it seemed like a good combination of "Ellen" and "Stella".

"Estelle... I like that name," Chloe said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "In Gadoria, the name Estelle means star."

"Then she'll be our star." Senel kissed his wife on the forehead, pulling her closer.

Chloe chuckled softly. "Yes, she will be."

9. Midnight

"_I'm not like other guys..."_

"_I know. That's why I like you, Mike."_

"_No. I mean I'm different."_

_Mike looked up at the full moon. It was too late. He doubled over in pain._

"_Mike, what's?"_

"_Get away!" His warning came out as a growl. Claws extended from his fingertips and fur appeared at his face and hands in clumps. He could hear his girlfriend screaming, but the monster inside of him was taking over. As the last remaining glimmer of his humanity was consumed by the beast awakened by the full moon, he gave chase. It wasn't long before his girlfriend fell and he found himself closing in, claws ready to sink into flesh..._

"I can't watch this any more, Coolidge."

Senel glanced at Chloe as she made her way out of the theatre. He passed his popcorn to some random woman sitting next to him and followed her outside.

"It's just a movie!" he said once he caught sight of Chloe.

"It's not funny, Coolidge. It's not amusing to see innocents being slaughtered like that and the effects are horrible."

"You weren't scared, were you?"

"Of course not!" Chloe started to stalk away.

Senel smirked. "Yep, you were scared." He didn't know why she wouldn't never admit things like this. Maybe she thought it would bring her dishonor or some such thing. He followed after.

When he caught up to her, he felt the sudden urge to do something so out of character, he should have known the night air was getting to him. But he had been meaning to tell her something very important for a long time, especially since she already seemed to suspect something, and well, as Curtis would say, "In times like this, one must sing!"

"_It's close to midnight, and something evil's a-lurkin' in the dark..."_

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Coolidge, you can't be serious."

"_Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart."_

"I'm going to pretend I don't know you right now."

"You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it."

Chloe rolled her eyes, resolving herself to the embarrassing fact that Senel was going to continue this absurd behavior as he started dancing around her. She decided to tune him out the moment he imitated a zombie next to her, and once again tried to figure out what made him so different from everyone else on the Legacy. Had she not been so focused on ignoring and trying to figure out Senel, she would have noticed something strange was happening in the graveyard as they passed it and started through the town toward the hospital.

They came to the main street running through Werites Beacon and suddenly she couldn't take it any more. She needed answers before the night was through.

"Coolidge."

He fell quiet, now apparently content to just give this strange twitch of his head and shoulder every now and then. "What?"

"You're impossibly fast and strong. You gotta give me some answers."

Senel continued to twitch. "I'd rather hear your theories."

Chloe crossed her arms and frowned. Did she just see someone move further down the street? "I've considered radioactive crystarantulas and over-exposure to eres stones-"

"That's all superhero stuff right? Like Kawkawman. What if I'm not the hero?" He had stopped twitching and was dead serious now. Yes, there was definitely something moving further down the street. And several other somethings all around them. "What if I'm the bad guy?"

"I know what you are," Chloe said. "Your skin is ice cold, and you don't go out in the sunlight."

"Say it out loud. Say it."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Vampire," she breathed.

"Are you afraid?"

"No." Suddenly, the "somethings" came out of the shadows and ran straight for them. Chloe drew her sword. "This isn't real!" They were zombies, all of them. Which shouldn't surprise her if Coolidge was a vampire, but still.

"It's good your not afraid." Senel struck a pose. The zombies immediately stopped and imitated him. Chloe's sword drooped and she found herself at a loss for words as Senel and the zombies started to dance perfectly in synch.

"_Cuz this is Thriller!"_

...xXx...

Chloe sat bolt upright, breathing heavily.

Senel backed away. Obviously had just been about to wake her up. "What's the problem?" he asked.

Chloe put a hand to her head. How in the world had her mind come up with such a strange dream? She didn't remember drinking anything the night before. "Um. N-Nothing."

Senel smiled. "Come on. Raynard wants to see us."

Chloe took his hand and he helped her up. She felt rather silly, but she had to ask. "Coolidge?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Your not a vampire, are you? Or a zombie?"

Senel gave her a look like she was crazy. "Last time I checked, no," he said flatly.

"Right. Of course." Chloe left the room. Had she looked behind her, she would have seen Senel's eyes briefly flash red.

10. Thoughtful

Senel was nervous. He was more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life.

He had talked to Will a while ago and laid out his plan to him. Will had said it was a good idea, and admitted to being surprised that Senel could think of something so thoughtful and romantic on his own. Senel didn't know whether to feel proud or insulted at that.

He had gone to Moses and Jay as well, both of whom seemed to think it was a good idea.

Norma had overheard and squealed at the idea, and he had had to threaten her to make sure she didn't ruin the surprise.

Shirley had surprised him when he told her. She had flung her arms around him. "I'm so happy for the two of you," she said, "I really am."

He had a left a note on Chloe's pillow, asking her to meet him outside in the orchard at the back of the Valens Estate. He knew she would get it and meet him here before going to bed- no doubt even now she was still talking to Norma, despite it being the very first few hours of the new day.

Senel sighed as he gazed up at the stars through the branches of the peach tree he sat under. He had known he should expect Chloe to be more serious and melancholy while he stayed here with her in Gadoria, but he hadn't expected her to be this open about her sadness. Apparently, even after ten years, her parents' death still cut deeply

Really, he shouldn't be surprised. She had been alone for five of those years, and during the next five she had still remained closed up about the subject. It wasn't until this yeah that she had asked Norma and himself to accompany her- that was when he first got the idea for his plan tonight. It was something he had been wanting to do for a while now; Chloe just provided the best time to do it.

In a way he was glad Chloe was taking so much time talking to Norma. This must be the first time she was talking to anyone besides him about what had happened and how she felt about it. And even when she had told him, part of the reason was probably because she was planning on leaving the Legacy and disappearing forever, as soon as she exacted her revenge. Maybe she hadn't spoken about that night so many years ago because she felt a need to punish herself for nearly killing Alcott. Maybe now, after talking to Norma, she could start healing. Maybe he could help her in that process by doing what he had planned.

Senel shook his head. It wasn't like him to be thinking about things like this so much. And as much as he wanted Chloe to be happy, he couldn't help but keep a part of him from wishing she would hurry up. He was still nervous and waiting wasn't doing a thing to help.

...xXx...

Chloe made her way back downstairs, confused, and still holding the note in her hand. What on earth could Coolidge want to meet her for at four thirty in the morning? Couldn't it wait until both of them had had some sleep? But the note had said to meet him at the orchard as soon as possible, so Chloe was going there right now.

She absently rubbed at her eyes, feeling sleepy and emotionally drained. Even now, after their conversation was over, it surprised her how considerate Norma had been. She had hardly said a word as Chloe spilled her guts out, offering only the occasional word of comfort. Then again, Chloe supposed she should have known Norma could be serious. She had proven that right before they found the Everlight.

Chloe smiled to herself, feeling just the tiniest bit guilty. She should really give Norma more credit; she was grateful to have her as a friend. Tonight, though, she wouldn't let her guilt overshadow the lift to her spirits. It was... nice to talk to someone like that. It was nice to be able to say that she had talked to someone about her parents and not stabbed them afterward.

But there was more than just violence that made her conversation with Norma different than the one she had had with Senel.

With Senel, the black mist had infected her, forcing her to focus only on the pain and the grief she felt. She remembered telling him how lonely she was after her parents were killed. Her House was erased, and although she had said she felt no sadness when that happened, it wasn't the entire truth. She was relieved- unbelievably so- when her unbearable responsibilities were lifted. However, once she made it to the Legacy, she had wished very hard that she had been able to save her family's name. She had wanted to be able to call herself a knight by right; she still did. So she had planned on killing the man who had taken that right away from her. She had planned on killing the man who had taken away that right, and who had taken away the two loving, near-perfect parents she had had.

With Senel she had focused on the pain she had felt. With Norma, she let her pain be known, but Norma was able to get her to focus on the happier memories, too. When she had told her how good her parents were, Norma had replied, "I'm not doubting you or anything C, but how were they so good? I'm just trying to understand because they obviously meant a whole lot to you. More than mine meant to me when I was that young, anyway."

So Chloe had shared her good memories. All of them, or at least all the ones she could think to remember.

And that was how she and Norma had stayed up so late- laughing and smiling and crying together. Chloe hadn't been this thankful since Shirley had slapped her, convincing her to stay on the Legacy.

Chloe was brought out of her thoughts when she entered the orchard and saw Senel waiting for her under a peach tree.

...xXx...

"Coolidge..?"

Senel stood at the sound of Chloe's soft voice. "Hey, Chloe." He smiled.

"Why did you want to meet me out here?"

Senel ran his thumb over the small black object in his pocket. "I just wanted to talk with you for a little while. How did it go with Norma?"

Chloe smiled at that. "It went well." She looked up at the stars.

"Good. I'm glad." He gulped, hoping she didn't notice. He needed to calm himself before he did something stupid. "Chloe, I..." For some reason his mouth just wouldn't form the words.

She didn't seem to hear him. "I always loved coming out here as a child. My mother and I would sit here on hot summer days and eat apples and peaches. Sometimes, when my father was training, we would bring him some fruit as well. Apricots were his favorite."

Senel found his nervousness melting away as he listened to her.

"There's a pond just down the hill from where the orchard ends. My father used to show me how to catch tadpoles there. I remember one year, he, my mother and I decided to camp out down there," a hint of slightly bitter amusement entered her voice, "even though none of the other nobles would have approved had they ever found out." She paused. "Still, it was fun. We set up a campfire and had a simple meal, a lot like the ones we used to have on our journey on the Legacy."

"Do you want to go down there?" Senel asked.

Chloe gave him a sideways glance and smiled. "Sure."

He followed Chloe through the trees and down the hill until she stopped just before the still water. The only sound around them was the gentle chirping of the cicadas. The sky had grown lighter to show that the sun was starting its ascent.

Suddenly, he knew that this was the perfect time. He placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder, causing her to turn around and face him.

"Chloe," he said softly. "I know how painful this day is to you, and I want to give you a reason to be happy on this day." As he spoke, he sank down to one knee. His focus stayed on Chloe's now shocked face, making sure that it was alright to continue. When she didn't object, he withdrew the small black box from his pocket.

"Chloe..." He opened the box. "Marry me?" He left just enough of a question in there that she could say no if she wanted to. But he knew she wanted this- had been waiting for this- and he wanted it too.

"Senel..." Tears were in her eyes, but he could see that she refused to let them fall. "Senel," her voice cracked slightly, and this time, two of the more bold tears escaped and she hurriedly wiped them away. She took his wrist and tugged, bringing him to his feet.

Senel blinked, confused. "It's um, not all that traditional for me to stand just yet."

Chloe chuckled. "Well, the way you phrased the question wasn't exactly traditional either." She wrapped her arms around him tightly, leaning into him. After a brief pause, she said, "Yes. I will marry you, Senel."

Senel brushed his lips against her hair and she pulled away from him, allowing him room to slip the gold band around her finger.

They kissed.

...xXx...

Xonel: Epic Win! While I was writing #9 I had iTunes on shuffle on my Halloween playlist and Thriller started playing!

Ahem. Just thought I'd share that.

Anyway, please tell me how I did on all of these and the last ones! I really want to know what you guys think of these so that I know if I should be proud of the ones I'm proud of.

On a side note, I don't think I need to point this out, but I was making fun of both Michael Jackson's Thriller and Twilight (the movie trailer, anyway) in #9. That being said, I own neither.

Once again, I really appreciate reviews! And thank you to everyone who read the last chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Xonel: Gah... Three updates at once and not a single one of them is for HVWI. Sorry, guys, I fail. It IS coming, though. I promise. Well, unless, God forbid, I die before I finish it. Or technology suddenly disappears. Or the world ends. You get it.

Anyway, It's three in the morning and I haven't done a proper spell check due to laziness, so I apologize for any typos. Please ignore them.

I own nothing. Here's the list of prompts.

1. The story must involve a dress at the end.

2. The story must have a snake involved in the middle.

3. During the story, there is a dramatic revelation.

4. A character is misunderstood throughout most of the story.

5. The story must involve a book at the end.

6. The story must have a token appear in the middle.

7. A character is controlling throughout most of the story.

8. The story must involve a book in it.

9. The story starts in a forest.

10. A character is antisocial throughout most of the story.

1. Games

It seemed that peace was finally attainable. Finally the world had come out of its age of turmoil. The war had ended, Schwartz the Destroyer was defeated, a sense of balance had been restored. All seemed to be right. On the surface.

Gadoria had long been known for the twisted politics which took place within its borders. Among the three Great Powers- Rexalia, Gadoria, and Crusand- the game of politics was a common one. So much so that people referred to it as such, simply calling it "The Game", which translated to "I'Tyalie" in Relares. Among any of the three Great Powers, and even the minor countries, Gadoria was the most notorious for the extent to which their nobles took I'Tyalie seriously. It was said that the nobles of Gadoria had long ago actually invented I'Tyalie themselves, and so it had become a common practice not to trust a Gadorian.

Yes, Rexalian's were known to be sticklers for a good bargain. Crusandi were known for their bouts of sudden violence. And Gadorian's were known for being manipulative.

Ironic that Gadorians also prided themselves in being a nation of knights. In a way it was rather sad because nobody believed that they were sincere about anything. Contrary to popular belief, all Gadorians viewed promises, for instance, as an unbreakable bond. Even if it was no more than a verbal agreement, the words "I promise" were known to each and every Gadorian to be the most binding words ever to be spoken. A Gadorian would commit suicide before breaking a promise. Of course no one believed that because Gadorians avoided those two words at all costs, all the while twisting their words and the truth to their advantage to the point where they could make even the wisest of scholars believe that the sky was green outside.

That was another thing: Gadorians rarely lied. Outright lying was heavily frowned upon, though some still did it, even among the nobles. Perhaps especially among the nobles. But even if lying was frowned upon, manipulating the truth was not. It was seen as a necessary thing to twist the truth in order to gain power, and any who could do so with any amount of skill were both admired and, understandably, seen as people around which one should step carefully.

Chloe contemplated all of this as she stared at her reflection. She knew it was in her blood to be just as manipulative as every other Gadorian, just as it had been in her parents' blood. And just like them, there was nothing she could do to keep from being swallowed up in I'Tyalie. She had tried to avoid it by remaining on the Legacy for as long as she could, but matters had come up which needed attending to and the King and the High nobles had decided that this was a convenient time to finally acknowledge her existence. Of course, she wasn't given any of her House's power back. Of course not. She was still the same disgraced Chloe Valens. Only now the players of I'Tyalie had decided that she was a pawn worth moving.

Well, two could play at that game. It had taken months of planning, asking for extensive help from both Raynard and Jay, and indirectly having Madame Musette "conveniently" set into motion certain acts which would put her in a more favorable position among Gadoria's nobility. It was a brilliant plan- if it worked. If it worked, not only would she not be a pawn, but her House would be restored to its former position- not only among the High nobles, but at the head of them, putting the House of Valens directly under the king himself in power.

The only problem was that the plan had so many parts to it, so many places where it could go wrong, and worst of all, she had to play the part of the meek little child that all the nobles expected her to be. More to the point, it required her to be nice- even to the point of accepting and returning flattery- to Sir Broderick Gavin, who's House had risen to take the place of her's when the Valens name was erased.

She remembered how her father didn't like Sir Gavin too much when she was a child. She remembered that her own dislike for the man had finally solidified when he had ordered her, at the Alter of the Sea, to kill Shirley. But even more than that, she remembered the look in his eyes whenever he saw her now. It had started when the man saw her in the antechamber to Will's house, after Coolidge had given her that medal for stopping the Nerifes Cannon (_Typical,_ she thought, _that a Gadorian nobleman would be too lazy to pass out the medals himself, let alone hold a ceremony for us_). She knew Raynard had caught the man's look as well, judging from the deep frown that had crept on his face right before the man had addressed her, telling her to keep up the good work and that she was doing well- for a woman.

Chloe noticed herself scowling in disgust in the mirror and quickly schooled her features into a mask of calm. She definitely couldn't let herself slip up like that out in public, and especially not in front of Gavin. He had jumped at the sudden civility she showed toward him, mistaking it for interest, and as much as it made her sick to her stomach, she had to keep up the charade and pretend that it _was_ interest.

The very thought made her want to gag. He was, what? Nineteen years older than her?

Chloe sighed, steeling herself against the day and Gavin's inevitable behavior. No doubt he was already waiting in the hall. Honestly, he seemed to think that somehow she had been broken and turned into a whimpering lapdog who was more than eager to return his advances. Not only was that infuriating, but it also made her worry that she would have to be careful if she didn't want to suddenly find herself engaged to the toad.

"Nicole," she called softly, and her chamberlain swept into the room with enough grace to rival any noblewoman.

"Yes, Chloe?"

Chloe smiled at that. The older woman had been her chamberlain for many years now. She had been the one to cut her hair when she decided to fully dedicate her life to the sword, and she had been there for her all the years leading up to that point. She wasn't one to let Chloe forget that, and frankly, it was nice to have at least one person in Gadoria refer to her without spitefully attaching a title to her name.

"I think it's time I wore my House colors as a Lady, and not as a knight."

Nicole quirked an eyebrow, but gave a short curtsey nonetheless. "Of course." She disappeared into the wardrobe only to come out a second later holding a brilliant royal blue dress of the finest quality. The dress had a swooping, wide neck which was framed with ruby red embroidery flowing down the length of the sleeves, ending in a touch of lace. The embroidery continued less thickly down to the waistline, ending in divided skirts.

One advantage to being so adamantly sought after was the fact that it gave her a certain amount of power over Sir Broderick Gavin. For once, she felt no qualms whatsoever with being manipulative, and she knew what affect wearing a dress would have on him. Even if it wasn't her most spectacular.

After all, the dress was going to be a surprise to him already, and she didn't want to give him too much of a shock.

She only hoped that Coolidge wouldn't do anything too rash if he ever found out how much Gavin had been ogling her.

2. Reconcile

Senel had been concerned for a while now. At first he had just dismissed it, but he couldn't do that any more.

It had been over a year since that night in the Forest of No Return, but it was obvious that Chloe's feelings toward Arnold hadn't changed much. Sometimes he caught her with a cold stare aimed in Arnold's direction, she almost always excused herself from the room when he was present and she wasn't immediately needed, and in general she just seemed to avoid him as much as possible. Obviously this made things awkward sometimes, considering the fact that Elsa still looked up to her. In fact, whenever both she and her father were in the room, Chloe almost seemed to squirm with discomfort.

So Senel had decided that enough was enough and he needed to convince her to do something about it.

"You need to talk to him," he said to her one day.

"Talk to who?" She put her sword down carefully, along with the sharpening stone she had been using right before Senel had spoken.

"Arnold," he said simply, wondering how she would react.

She gave him a glance that he couldn't interpret before taking her scabbard and smoothly slid her sword back into its place. She set the sheathed blade on her knees and continued to look at it for a second before a soft sigh escaped her. "I know."

"If you know, then why haven't you done it already?"

That made her look up. Her eyes were cold steel. "Because I still haven't forgiven him, Coolidge."

"That's exactly why you need to talk to him! You already took the first step by choosing not to kill him. The next step should be easier!"

Chloe stood up from where she had been sitting at the edge of her bed. "It should be, but its not. I can hardly be in the same room with him without feeling that same rage that nearly consumed me that night! Look at what I did because of that! The only way I can be sure that I won't let my emotions get the better of me again is if I stay away from Alcott as much as possible."

Senel took a couple of steps closer to her. "You know that's not the solution, Chloe."

Chloe gave him a sidelong glance before stepping up to the window and looking out in back of the hospital. "Then what am I supposed to do, Coolidge?" She still sounded upset, but at least she was listening to him.

"Like I said, talk to him. Do it soon so that you get it over with."

A long silence answered him. Senel was just about to leave when he heard her say, almost inaudibly, "Fine."

...xXx...

Alcott sat across from her, sipping his tea. She had no idea what to say to him, and once again found herself thinking that this was a terrible idea. She had left her sword back in her room at the hospital to discourage any sudden violent urges she might get- but all she could think was, _What if I'm attacked on my way back to the hospital? _Norma was down here as well- at a seperate table talking and laughing her head off with Sandor- as was Senel- who was at the moment very annoyed at the two of them. It was another precaution Chloe had thought of- she wouldn't want to attack anyone in a public setting, let alone in front of her friends. But in spite of everything, Chloe still couldn't help but feel this was a bad idea. Whenever she dared to even glance at Alcott, memories of that horrible night would replay themselves in her mind relentlessly. She dared not look him in the eye.

But what bothered her even more was the fact that since he first sat down across from her, he hadn't said a word. He had simply ordered a mug of hot, herbal tea and waited. For about fifteen minutes now, he had waited.

Chloe resisted the urge to groan, or cry, or yell and wished for the thousandth time that Senel hadn't decided that she should take care of this right now, immediately after he had first suggested it to her back at the hospital.

Gold glittered out of the corner of her eye, and Chloe winced before she could stop herself. She knew what that gold color was a part of. It was one of the more distinctive images forever burned into her mind.

"What made you decide to get your snake tattoo?"

It took her a second to realize she had spoken.

"I acquired it early on during my search for a cure for Elsa."

Chloe frowned and blinked. She shifted so that she was facing him, even dared to glance up, but stopped herself before she could meet his eyes. Her gaze returned to her own steaming mug of tea set on the table, her hands wrapped around it tightly. "What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

Alcott took another sip. "When I first learned that Elsa was sick, I knew that I needed money in order to search for a cure. I was desperate, and although I knew it was a bad idea, I went to a loan shark to borrow some money. He lent me a good sum, and made it very clear that he expected me to be able to pay it back. He had his emblem, the green-eyed, golden snake, branded into my arm so that he would be able to identify me later on if I failed to pay him back. Of course I wasn't able to do so. He knew I wouldn't be able to. I was a mercenary at the time, with only very little knowledge of medicine, and since this was before the war it was hard for me to come by work. Eventually he tired of waiting and came after me. My house was attacked one night... my wife, Gaelle, did not survive."

If Chloe had not been paying close attention, she would have missed the slight hesitation in his voice during that last sentence. It was strange to hear such a deep, self-assured and, until now, hated voice speak about such events. Hesitantly, Chloe let her gaze fall on the man's tattoo. The golden scales of the snake glittered in the low light of the tavern, wrapping around his forearm and up to his elbow. The snake's head was etched into the skin on the back of his hand, emerald eyes bright and glaring.

"So you kil-" she couldn't make herself say the words- not to him, "did what you did in order to pay him back." There was a tightness in her chest. "But it turned out to be for nothing because he killed someone you loved anyway." Somehow, she managed to sound less bitter than she felt.

"I killed your parents after Gaelle was killed. He found-"

Chloe stood, slamming her fist on the table. "WHY?" She took several deep breaths, aware that several pairs of eyes were on her now, including those of her friends. She took several deep breaths and sat down, forcing herself to be calm. "Why did you do it then?" She didn't even bother trying to mask her bitterness now.

"After Gaelle was killed, I fled with Elsa. He found me only about a day later and threatened to take Elsa's life unless I paid him back. I could not simply fight him off, he had too many men with him at the time. He took Elsa hostage and gave me twenty-four hours to come up with the money I owed him. That night I saw a lavish carriage traveling alone down the street. You know what happened then."

Chloe's hands tightened around her mug briefly before she let her grip relax, letting out a breath through slightly-parted lips. She forced her gaze to meet Alcott's. His eyes were not the eyes of a monster, she knew they wouldn't be. No, his eyes were kind and gentle- with deep pain and regret reflecting back at her from their depths. She knew he wouldn't ask for her sympathy, he probably didn't even want it. To be honest, she still wasn't sure she could give it.

"I think I..." She blinked, letting her eyes fall from his gaze once more. "I think maybe I understand, now." She had heard that losing a child was the deepest wound anyone could endure. Logic said that it was understandable how the threat of having that happen could force one to take the lives of a child's parents. But was it forgivable?

"I don't regret what I said in the forest. I deserve to pay for my crimes, and you deserve vengean-"

"Don't." Chloe stood. "Don't talk like that when you still have Elsa to look after. You can pay for what you've done by doing what has already been agreed upon and helping the people of Werites Beacon." She pushed her chair in against the table. "I still can't say that I forgive you... but at least now I know that I might be able to in the future."

...xXx...

Elsa knocked on Chloe's door.

"Come in," came the knight's voice.

Elsa walked in through the door to see Chloe sitting at her desk, looking over some papers that were undoubtedly from her homeland. Elsa felt a pang of guilt. She probably wouldn't have free time right now.

Chloe looked up, frowning as she took in Elsa's expression. "What's wrong?"

"I was wondering if you'd want to go outside and play or go for a walk, but if you're busy..."

Chloe's expression softened into a smile and she stood. "I'd love to, Elsa."

Elsa brightened immediately. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. "Of course. Let's go."

3. Epiphany

Senel didn't know why it happened, it just did.

Granted, he was glad that it did, but he had no idea why it happened at all.

It only took one little comment:

"Well, well, well. And to think you two only just met."

At the time, he had denied any truth to the implication behind Will's words. For a while he still did.

But now, two and a half years later, he realized that that was when it had started.

After Will said that, he had behaved differently than he normally would have. All those times he fervently insisted that Shirley was his sister happened for a reason.

After the Bandit's Lair, he found his gaze falling on the knight of their group all too often, and thus his reaction was to deny- a little too enthusiastically- that he had any sort of feelings for her. Other than strong friendship, of course.

But even at the time, he couldn't deny that it had hurt to lose the knight's trust for that brief period of time.

And he couldn't deny why everything else- even Shirley's very existance- had faded from his mind when he thought the knight was about to drown there in the Waterways.

And it was a miracle no one had noticed how worried he was when the knight collapsed while they were still underwater in the Popo Mark III. He had been worried about her in the Forest of No Return as well, and would have gone to try and calm her down if Moses hadn't been about to erupt.

He had enjoyed their time training together at Maurits' Hermitage, and it was another miracle that no one had noticed just how red his face had turned when Norma complained that they hadn't "heated things up a bit".

Facing Stingle the Vicious and later Arnold Alcott were two more times he had feared for the knight. And he had liked it a little too much, the two times when she had woken him up. In fact, and perhaps it was merely wishful thinking, but he could swear that the knight had laid a gentle hand on his cheek during the first time she had woken him up, and he really did feel bad about accidentally calling her Shirley the second time. What happened in the Thunder Monument still confused him, but he had still enjoyed the brief moment when she had clung to him, thinking that they were somehow floating above the ocean. And sometimes he would let himself imagine that she had been jealous of Norma claiming him as her heater in the Ice Monument.

One of the most vivid memories he had of the knight was when the two of them had stood on the shore of the Quiet Lands after the Quiet Nerifes had refused him its power. When she had been that close to him, he had been foolish enough to dare to hope that she would kiss him. Naturally, it was a shock when what he felt was not a pair of soft lips, but a stinging slap to the face, but it was what he needed at the time. She had a strange gift for delivering what he needed at any particular moment.

Yes, when he thought about all of these memories, it was obvious why he had grown so close to the knight, why he had insisted on Shirley being his sister, and why he felt so awkward whenever Grune hugged him and he could feel the knight's disapproving glare on him.

When he thought about all these things, it made perfect sense why he was momentariy panicked that the Rite of Feriyen had taken place without his intention.

But then he realized that he didn't have to acknowlege it.

Now if only he could tell Shirley without her turning into the Merines again... Hm...

4. Similar

_Try complimenting him on something he's wearing. Believe it or not, guys love to know they look good._

"That's a sharp outfit, Bryce."

"Thanks, I like yours, too."

"R-really?"

"Yeah! Anything that shows spirit for our nation is awesome to me."

_Well, he is kind of dense. Try complimenting something else maybe?_

"You're arms look so... strong..."

"Hey, thanks. Yours too."

_What kind of guy says that? Ooh! I know. My mom told me this one's guaranteed to work._

"Brrr..."

"Are you cold?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Here, I'll get my friend's jacket so you don't have to hang on to me like that."

_Well that's cold. HA HA! Get it? Cold?_

_Ugh, that's not even funny. Besides, he wasn't being a jerk about it, he was just being dense. Again._

_Hm... This is a tough one... Oh, I know! Let him see the softer side of you!_

_How? Haven't I been doing that already?_

_Let him see you when you're scared! That HAS to work!_

"B-Bryce? I'm scared..."

"Don't worry, there's no such thing as zombies. Besides, I..."

"Yes..?"

"I'm sure you could kick their butts!"

_Well... Maybe you should just come out and tell him..?_

_I can't do that!_

_Well, I'm fresh out of ideas, so unless you want me to intervene..._

_No way!_

_Okay, okay, sheesh. But seriously, if he's too dense to get it by now, I think you should just tell him._

_Maybe you're right..._

_Of course I'm right! When have I ever steered you wrong, Estelle?_

_Many times._

_Yeah, well, blame that on my dad's genes._

_I don't know... My mom says Mrs. Norma is the one who always tried to set her up with my dad._

_Ooh, whatever! I still think you should tell him. If not, I might._

_You better not!_

_Haha! We'll see._

5. Fad

"I just don't get it! Why are girls suddenly so interested in me? They were almost scared of me before!"

"I dunno, Damon. I wouldn't be complainin', though. You're lucky to get the attention."

"It's annoying! I can't go anywhere without hearing some girl sigh as I pass by!"

"Y'know, I don't get why you don't just take advantage of the situation and either get yerself a girlf, or, better yet, get yerself a whole bunch of free kisses."

"You're just like you're dad, aren't you?"

"Heh. Maybe."

...xXx...

"Ugh. You're so dense. It's obvious what's going on, Damey."

"Don't call me that! And what do you mean?"

Estelle swung her legs over her bed where she had been reading and crossed the room, passing him her book.

"What's this?" he asked. "_Daylight_?"

"It's part of a new series of books about vampires," his sister drawled. "They're not very good. Its a wonder this Bethanie Meyers person was published at all. But, they've become very popular, especially among teenaged girls."

"You talk about teenaged girls as if you aren't one. Besides, doesn't that Bryce guy you like so much look kind of like a vampire?"

Estelle scowled. "Bryce was pale before it was 'cool'. And by the way, that'sthe only reason so many girls suddenly like you. It's just a fad, Damey."

Damon passed the book back. "Well, geez, sorry. Besides, I'm glad it'll pass. It's creepy."

Estelle started back toward her bed. "Whatever. Better get yourself a girlfriend right now, though. It's your only chance." She smirked over her shoulder.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Like you're one to talk." He left the room.

Estelle waited until she couldn't hear his footsteps any more before nearly ripping the book back open.

"Hurry, Edwin! Becka's in trouble!"

6. Fear

Chloe stumbled, nearly falling, and took that as a sign to take a break.

A few days ago, stunned and disoriented, she had found herself in front of the Oresoren Village. She had collapsed just outside, but thankfully Jay had found her and brought her inside. It was a shame he hadn't woken her up, because as she had feared, the nightmares returned.

She swallowed upon thinking of those. They were worse than before, if that was even possible. They held images of Senel's bloodied corpse, having fought one-too-many monsters. Sometimes he was still alive when she found him, only for her to see the killing blow. Sometimes she never did find him and died before she could. Other times she never found him and she lived a very long life afterward.

For some reason, those were the worst. She didn't want to have to live without him. Chloe had left the village soon after waking up, leaving a note for Jay, thanking him for finding her and giving her some food. She didn't even regret forgetting to pack more supplies.

With that thought, Chloe forced herself back to her feet and continued onward.

It wasn't long before something caught her eye.

She made her way toward the shiny object and gasped, this time falling completely.

With trembling fingers, she reached out and took the object to cradle it against her.

It was the jewel from Senel's shirt. It must have been knocked out of its iron encasement. The underside didn't look weathered at all, or even scratched. That had to mean that it had fallen off just recently.

Chloe stood with renewed determination. If it had fallen off recently, that had to mean that Senel was nearby.

She tucked the jewel in one of the pockets on the inside of her jacket and scanned the area. If he had been through here recently, perhaps he had left some sort of trail she could follow.

Sure enough, Chloe found some markings on the ground that showed him heading toward the main road. Once she reached the road, she could tell which directions the markings led.

There were few things she had to thank Sandor for, but tracking was one of them.

7. Plans

Senel stole a casual glance in Chloe's direction. Things had been going well, according to her. To him, it seemed like they were both being tugged in every direction imaginable by every noble imaginable.

Lord Jian Byron wasn't much better than Lord Gavin himself. He didn't seem quite as power hungry, but that was probably because he was better at disguising it. Or maybe he really was just an adamant supporter of Gavin, he was old, after all, and it didn't seem like he cared much about the fate of his House beyond his own life span. Idiot. At least he didn't leer nearly as much as Gavin did.

Lady Fayth Aturi, who claimed to have ancestors from Rexalia, grated on Senel's nerves like no one else ever had. She was every inch the stereotypical noblewoman he had always heard about in the newspapers. All fluff for brains and an attitude to match. At least, that's what he thought. Chloe said she was only mildly more intelligent than she appeared. He supposed she had to be to keep her House affairs in order.

Of course, Lord Gavin he heartily despised. He had already decided he hated the man when he learned that this was the same Lord and Captain who had led the assault on the Alter of the Sea. Now that he knew that Gavin was the one who had risen to take what would have been Chloe's place in the Gadorian nobility, was the one who was putting forth the most effort to keep her from restoring her House, and was the one who had been trying to court her, he hated the man with a passion.

It was these three nobles who were meeting with them today.

As Chloe had explained to him, everything had been going well. Well enough, that some of the smarter nobles were starting to recognize her as a threat. Or perhaps they only suspected that she was backed by Rexalia's Holy Sovereign. In any case, Chloe was willing to assert some of her authority now by having the three nobles meet with the two of them in one of the smaller sitting rooms of Valens Manor. A fact that was obviously grating on their nerves.

"Tell me, Miss Valens," Senel knew enough to know that if Byron dared call her "Miss" instead of "Lady", he was being spiteful, "do you often treat your guests this way?" Yeah, he was definitely mad if he was willing to ask her that so bluntly.

"I'm not certain I know what you mean, Sir Byron," Chloe replied smoothely, waving to one of the few servants to bring in some wine. Senel wanted to smirk at that; "Sir" was little better than "Miss".

Byron's eyes narrowed and he frowned. Senel could tell he was searching for a good way of phrasing his complaint, but before he could Lady Aturi saved him the trouble.

"I believe Lord Byron is referring to the room, Miss Valens. Surely you don't entertain all of your guests in such... _quaint_ rooms?"

Chloe smiled graciously. "Of course not, Lady Aturi." It didn't take skill to catch the sarcasm in her voice. "But, as I'm sure you are aware, many of Gadoria's citizens are still suffering from the effects of the war. I've put a good deal of money toward helping those people, and as such I'm afraid I can only utilize the larger sitting rooms for especially important guests. The five of us are so close now, I'm sure you understand."

Byron's frown turned into a scowl for an instant before he caught himself and his expression turned neutral. "Ah, yes. I've heard of your little projects, Miss Valens. Tell me, how many families have you helped now?" He raised an eyebrow as he took a goblet from the tray a servant was offering him.

"I believe the last count estimated two hundred fifty, while there are about thirty more families still being looked after."

Lady Aturi had the audacity to giggle. "Is that all, Miss Valens? Surely you know that that's a drop in the bucket when looking at all of the Gadorians who are suffering." She sipped her wine delicately.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Indeed, I do. With more resources I would gladly help as many of the common people as posssible, as I'm _sure_ all of you are doing. After all, they are the ones who are truly suffering right now." Aturi chose not to comment on that.

Byron took a sip, eyeing Chloe over the rim of his goblet. "Interesting how you can support so many families with so little of your own funding. Are you getting help from any outside sources?"

Chloe took a sip from her own goblet. Or, more likely, she faked a sip. Chloe had explained to him before that she liked to stretch out no more than two glasses of wine over meetings like these to keep her thinking from getting foggy. "Well, I'm sure you know that being one of the heroes who defeated Schwartz has its benefits." An ambiguous answer if ever there was one.

"Yes, of course," Byron muttered.

Gavin chuckled. "No need to be so suspicious, Lord Byron. I'm sure Lady Valens only has Gadoria's best interests at heart."

Senel could all but hear Byron reply "That's what I'm afraid of".

"And what about you, Lord Coolidge?" Gavin continued, sneering now. "I had heard that you were planning on returning to the Legacy soon. How is that coming along?"

Senel took a swift sip from his goblet. "Well enough," he replied simply. One of the many things that bothered him about Gadoria was the fact that these nobles always seemed to call him "Lord Coolidge" with far more sincerity than they ever used with Chloe, no matter which title or honorific they attached to her name. It bugged him even more because he had protested countless times that he was no such thing as a lord.

"Surely you can give them a better answer than that, Senel," Chloe said, smiling.

"I'm planning on leaving in two months," Senel elaborated.

Gavin's eyebrows shot up.

Byron chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm not sure if two months qualifies as 'soon', Lord Coolidge."

Senel shrugged. "I guess it depends on the individual what a short amount of time is."

Gavin scowled into his goblet. "Indeed." Silence filled the room.

"Why don't we address the reason why all of you wanted to speak with me?" Chloe suggested.

"Yes, let's," Byron said, setting his goblet on the arm of his chair and leaning on the other arm. "What I, and I think what all three of us want to know is why you are so fervently pushing for increased trade with Rexalia."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and took another fake sip. "Rexalia? I could understand if you asked me why I want increased trade with Crusand, but why Rexalia?"

Aturi laughed, waving away her question. "Oh, we all know why you want to trade with Crusand. You believe Gadoria pushed its privileges as the victor of the war too far. We all know about the famine, Miss Valens, and we all know what a soft heart you have when it comes to those who are suffering." Byron shot Aturi a dark glare. Apparently he had planned on phrasing the exact thing Aturi said a little more carefully.

Chloe wasn't fazed, however, and she feigned surprise. "Am I that easy to see through?" Byron actually let out a bark of laughter at that. "In any case, it almost seems that you are opposed to increased trade with Rexalia. Why is that? They've been our allies for many decades, and the famine in Crusand has affected us all. I'm sure they would appreciate the extra trade."

"Perhaps," Gavin said, a small smirk creeping onto his features. Senel noticed that his eyes were aimed just a little lower than would normally be acceptable. "I think that we are all just concerned, Lady Valens. I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

"Rumors?" Chloe asked.

"Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about, Valens," Byron spat.

Chloe's eyes turned to daggers. "I would ask that you please control yourself and address me properly, Lord Byron. As for pretending, I assure you that I am hardly one to pretend in situations such as these."

Byron met her glare for a moment before looking away and downing the rest of his wine. He held it out to be refilled by a servant.

Gavin cleared his throat. "Many nobles suspect that you have friends in high places, Lady Valens. Rexalian friends."

Chloe took another sip, peering at the three nobles in turn from above the rim of her goblet. She set it down carefully on the arm of her chair. "I assure each of you, any and all friends I might have, to my knowledge, remain on the Legacy. Except of course Senel here."

Silence filled the room once more. It wasn't long before Lord Byron and Lady Aturi excused themselves and left. Gavin stayed a few minutes more, but since Senel was in the room he didn't dare make any suggestive comments and soon left as well.

As soon as he did, Chloe visibly relaxed and let out a sigh.

"Are you alright?" Senel asked.

Chloe looked up and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. That went very well."

"It did?" Senel still couldn't follow conversations like these and the underlying implcations of peoples' words as well as he would like.

"Yes. It actually went much better than I could have hoped." Chloe chuckled softly, bitterly. "I'm better at this than I thought."

"You don't have to keep it up too much longer."

"Right." She stood. "Still, I'm surprised things went that smoothely. Everything went exactly as I had planned it."

"You planned all that?" Senel asked incredulously.

Chloe nodded. "Of course. As I said, I'm surprised myself that I'm so good at I'Tyalie." Her eyes flickered toward Senel. "My real goal here was to reinforce the question that I may or may not have Madame Musette helping me. Some of the higher nobles were getting a little too sure that that was the case, while others had decided that I was just trying to stir something up for the sake of causing trouble. But after tonight it becomes a question again. That's why it was so important to have Lord Byron here."

"I think I get it," Senel said, taking another swallow of wine. "It's because everyone respects Byron and listens to him."

"Exactly." And with that, Chloe downed her goblet of wine in one swallow.

"Just one thing," Senel said.

"What is it?"

"Next time Gavin looks at you like that, can I punch him out?"

8. Secrets

It was such a pain, coming all the way out here. Even taking the duct, she had to travel at least a little bit while smuggling a bit of her stash without being seen. No one knew of this habit of hers, and she intended to keep it that way. If they knew... Well, Sandor and Jay probably wouldn't care. Norma would undoubtedly tease her ("Really, C? Miss Goody Goody is resorting to this?"), but she would probably want access to her stash as well so she wasn't too much of a threat. Coolidge and Raynard, however... she shuddered thinking about how they would react.

But really, what was the harm? It wasn't like she was the only one who did something like this. She must be overreacting. Right? Yes. Of course. She was no worse than any other person her age, male or female, human or otherwise. Yes, Coolidge had his bad habit of sleeping in. Sandor, well, that was enough said right there. Norma was something of a combination of the two, really. Jay kept things bottled up- well, so did she, but at least she didn't mess with peoples' heads like he did. Shirley had her bouts of jealousy. Even Raynard's tendency to completely shut out the whole world while he was conducting research could be seen as a bad habit.

And well, this was her bad habit.

She was sure no one had followed her, or even really noticed her leave for that matter. She could be surprisingly stealthy when she wanted to be.

Still keeping an eye out for any signs of human life, Chloe exited the duct and made her way around to the far side of the Man-Eating Ruins. She didn't know why she liked it here so much. She still held an intense fear of water- though she would never admit it out loud- and would be in serious trouble if she somehow wound up in the middle of the hated element. Even so, this place was secluded and well, the atmosphere just seemed perfect for her purposes. She actually liked the feel of the sand, the smell of the salty air, and the gentle sound of the wind and waves. It was the water itself that she didn't like.

But she was willing to risk drowning- though really it was an unlikely occurrence- in order to be in this perfect atmosphere.

Chloe glanced around once more to make sure no one was around. When she assured herself that she was alone, she crept closer to the gentle waves, feeling somewhat confident and willing to get closer to the water than usual. She let her small pack slide from her shoulders onto the sand, having hidden it underneath her cape, and sat down. For a moment, she just sat there, letting her nerves calm down on their own for a bit before even regarding her pack.

She wasn't sure exactly why things were getting to her lately. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, so maybe she was just getting tired from all of life's usual problems. In any case, she liked to come out here with her stash when she was stressed and tired, and she was definitely both stressed and tired right now.

With that thought came another, unbidden, but it was one that always came to her when she came here now. _I feel pathetic coming out here like this._

She shook her head, willing away all uncomfortable feelings of regret. She had gone through all this effort up to this point, might as well follow through.

Before even opening her pack, though, she would simply just relax and let her eyes rest after looking after all that paper work back home.

...xXx...

"Hey, C! Why are you out here all passed out by yourself?"

Chloe sat bolt upright, panicking for a second before she realized that Norma was still a few yards away to her left and hadn't noticed the pack right next to her. "O-Oh, I was just, um... Getting some fresh air."

Norma walked over and she stood, holding the pack behind her back.

"All the way here by the Man-Eating Ruins?" Norma asked skeptically.

Chloe decided to change the subject. "Well what were you doing out here?"

"Me? Well, I was thinking about when we came here last time as a group and I thought to myself, you know what? There was a trap in the ruins. Why would there be a trap if there wasn't something to hide? So I decided to investigate and see if there was some treasure here we didn't notice before."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "In other words, the inn-keeper has threatened to kick you out so you came here to beat up monsters and make some easy money."

Norma grinned and nodded. "Yep. So anyway, what's that you've got behind you?"

Chloe froze. "Oh, um. N-Nothing. Why don't we head back?" She started walking away.

"Aw, come on! You can tell me!"

Chloe put her arms through the straps on the pack, making sure her cape was draped over it. "It's nothing, Norma."

"If it's nothing, then show me!" Norma made to grab the pack.

"No!" Chloe dodged Norma's grasp and ran toward the duct.

"Come on, C! I won't tell anyone!"

Chloe didn't listen and tried not to think about how childish she was acting. Not to mention suspicious. She made it to the duct and activated it, knowing Norma was right behind her.

The front gate to the city was abruptly right next to her, the entrance only a few feet away. But Norma would expect her to be there, wouldn't she? Should she take the duct somewhere else then?

"Geez, C, just show me!"

Panic made her choose to make a run for it. Instead of running into the city, though, Chloe made for the trees just outside the city, hoping to lose Norma.

"Uh, C? You're starting to scare me a little."

Chloe ignored her, just making it among the trees. To her dismay, she saw Senel just a few feet away, finishing off a Gentlemen. Luckily he hadn't noticed her.

Norma stopped right behind her. "Hey, it's Senny!" Norma cupped her hands around to call out to him.

"No, don't!"

Norma looked at her, putting on her best "innocent face". "Why ever not, C?"

Chloe groaned. "Just don't, alright? Look, I'll let you see what's in my pack if you just don't call him."

Norma grinned and nodded. "Deal!"

Chloe stole a glance at Senel. The monster was beaten and he was walking in the opposite direction now. Good.

Chloe slipped the pack off her shoulders for the second time that day and passed it to Norma. If she was lucky, Norma wouldn't inspect the contents too closely

Norma took out one of the three objects and held it up, her eyebrows climbing. "'A Biological Study of Peepits'? C, don't tell me you're a closet nerd!"

Chloe coughed into her hand. "I, um, borrowed those... from Raynard..."

"'A Rexalian Field Guide to Rock Formations'... Ooh! 'Hidden Treasures of the Legacy'!" Chloe's eyes widened when Norma made to open the book and before she could stop herself she had taken hold of it.

"Y-You wouldn't be interested, Norma. It means 'treasure' as in... natural... oddities..."

"Oh really?" Norma grinned again. "Then why do you care if I take a look at it?"

"Um, well-"

"You did say you would let me see."

Chloe sighed in exasperation and let go of the book. Norma opened it.

"...Huh?" She took off the outer cover and stared. After a moment, she spoke. "'Tales of Gadoria: To Love Pirate'. Um, C, isn't this part of a series of romance nov-"

"Yeah."

Norma paused, still looking at the real cover of the book which showed a muscely pirate in a ripped shirt carrying a young, fainted noblewoman bridal-style on the deck of a ship, the sun setting in the background. "And I'm guessing the other two books are from the same seri-"

"Yeah."

Norma slowly brought her gaze away from the cover and coughed into her hand. "So," she said, eyeing Chloe sideways, "Miss Goody Goody likes pirates..."

"Norma..." came the threatening reply.

"I guess it makes sense that you've fallen head-over-heels for a marine, then- OW! Hey, only Teach is allowed to smack me upside the head!"

Chloe took back her books and pack and started to stalk away. "If you're smart, no one else will ever know about this, Norma."

Norma tried her best to act offended. "Geez, you don't trust me? I'm nothing if not a good friend, C! I won't tell anyone!" Chloe stopped, turned around very slowly, and gave Norma a level look before turning back around and continuing on. "At least," Norma whispered to herself, "Not any time soon..."

9. Ganymede

"_Fair, Chloe, Fair Chloe,_

_Wherefore are you, fair Chloe?_

_Ever since our eyes met, I have wanted to be with you."_

"Hahaha! Wow. Listen to this one!

_Every day I think_

_I cannot live without her_

_So I go to bed."_

Both of them burst out laughing at that one. Chloe made her way to another tree to read what was written on it.

"_Fair Chloe,_

_Is like a ripe tomato_

_Among a sea of turnips_

_The only sweet among the bitter."_

"A _tomato?_ Really? Oh, man, C, I'd be insulted if I were you!"

Chloe sighed and shook her head. "Norma, you don't understand! I can't simply stop loving him because he's a horrible poet. If anything, these horrible poems, because he was willing to write them permanently by carving them into the trees, prove just how sincere he is!"

"Oh boy," Norma muttered to herself. "She's about to go into another monologue..."

"Ever since he bested Sir Curtis, the wrestler from your father's court, and we congratulated him, he has invaded my thoughts relentlessly. I know I am a fool for giving my heart to someone I've barely exchanged any words with at all, but I cannot shake off the fact that dear Senel is perfect in every way! He is noble and kind and true and-"

"C! Someone's coming!" Norma inwardly sighed in relief at having a good excuse to cut her off before she got too involved in her ranting.

Chloe quickly put her fake mustache back on as the bushes rustled.

To both of their astonishment, the one who emerged was Senel himself.

"Um, hi. I was wondering if-"

"Are you the one who's been cutting up these innocent trees with your foolish words of love-sickness?" Chloe asked in as deep and manly a voice as she could muster.

"Huh?"

"Don't act so clueless, I know it's you!"

"But-"

"But fear not! My name is Ganymede, and I will help cure you of your ailment-"

"But I'm not sick-"

"-by acting as this 'fair Chloe' you so often describe and letting you court me!"

"Listen, dude-"

"And then you'll realize in no time that you're not actually in love and you wouldn't want to put up with a woman when she's in one of her 'moods'."

"Whoa, back up... uh, Ganymede, was it? I'm not the one who wrote all that stuff on these trees."

"Wait, you're not?" In her surprise, Chloe's voice dropped back to normal and her fake mustache drooped.

"Um, no. I think it was this clown from my father's court, though. Moses is his name."

"M...Moses?" Chloe said faintly.

"Yeah, he-"

Chloe fainted.

"What's up with him?" Senel asked.

"Um..." Norma laughed nervously. "Don't worry, sh- HE'S just had a long day is all."

10. Waiting

"Alright, Teach, it's your turn!"

"Four. Senel or Moses, hm..."

"Ooh ooh! Pick Senny! He hasn't been picked in a while!"

Will sighed, but placed the marker on the space with Senel's name penciled in. "Alright then. Imaginiff Senel was a type of beverage. What would he be? 2% Milk, Black Coffee, Green Tea, Water, Orange Juice, or Tequila?"

The group eargerly placed the cards of their choice face down. All except for Senel.

"Yo, Senny! Are you playing or what?"

Senel tore his gaze from the rain-streaked window. "Huh? Oh. Sorry." He placed a random card face down.

"All right! Ready, guys?" At once, they each flipped their cards over. "Aww..."

"Haha! Guess you don't move this time, Bubbles!"

"Man, I knew I should have gone with Green Tea..." Norma glanced at Senel's card. "Um, Senny? Is that an admission on your part?"

"What?" Senel looked at his card to see that he had placed the card indicating Tequila.

"Senel..?" Shirley frowned in concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Senel stood. "Actually, I just remembered something I need to do. I'll see you guys later, okay?" With that, he walked out of Will's house and into the pouring rain. He wasn't sure exactly what he was planning on doing, but he couldn't stay inside anymore. It had taken a while, and a lot of round-a-bout questioning on Senel's part, but he had finally uncovered the answer he was searching for. The only problem was, he still didn't know what he was going to do with that answer. Undoubtedly, he would be called an idiot by more than just one person if they ever found out.

"Ah, Senel. Are you just arriving?"

Senel looked past the information dealer at the street behind him. "I'm actually just leaving. I have something I need to take care of." He started walking past.

"Ah. That's too bad."

"Yeah, well. I'll see you around."

Senel left before Jay could get in another word, heading toward the main road that ran through the middle of town. Maybe he would just go home and get some sleep. By the morning- or afternoon, rather- he would be able to think more clearly.

...xXx...

He waited until morning, for once actually waking up fairly early, but he woke up only to find that his decision was the same as it was last night.

He got out of bed and immediately made his way toward the hospital. He left a very short note with the owner, knowing that the one it was intended for would arrive in only a day or so. Then he went back to his house, packed enough supplies to last him a few days, and headed toward the front gate of the city.

He ran into Moses, who seemed to be heading toward the inn. The bandit didn't notice him, so Senel called out.

"What's up, Senel? Why'd you leave so early last night?"

"There's something I need to take care of," Senel said. "I'll be back in a few days."

"Ya'll mind me askin' what's goin' on?" Senel remained silent. Finally, Moses sighed. "Alright, fine. I get it. Just make sure ya don't get yerself hurt, ya hear?"

Senel nodded. "I'll be fine. Just keep an eye on everything while I'm gone, alright?"

"No problem, Senel."

Senel nodded again and walked past the bandit.

"Just one thing," Moses called. "What about Chloe?"

"I left a note at the hospital. She'll get it once she's back from Gadoria."

...xXx...

Xonel: So I'm curious to know what you guys think of 1 and 7. Hopefully I did a good job with all the political stuff in those two. For now, I won't reveal the character in 8 of the first chapter. However, I will say that there's a very BLATENT and OBVIOUS clue in Showdown! Agni Kai.

Thanks for reading :)


	4. Chapter 4

Xonel: Howdy, ya'll!

I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who's been reviewing. Seriously, every time I see a new review it brightens up my day and I end up reading it like five times, lol. Okay, I know that sounds kind of creepy, but still. Anyway, my deepest thanks go to Rainypanda (looking forward to more of your story, by the way!), PlatinumMew (yes, people do need to show more love for Chlenel!), and dark drow (you give such insightful reviews, but gah! I can't respond back to you!).

Before you guys read, I feel I must warn you that three of these are kind of depressing. Also there are a couple of special guest characters in 3. And... You'll here about Senel's parents AND about his fears!

Anyway, the list of prompts is below, and I hope you enjoy!

1. The story must have a warlord in it.

2. The story is set during a holiday ceremony.

3. The story is set during a wedding.

4. The story takes place ten years in the past.

5. The story takes place twenty years in the past.

6. The story starts on a ship.

7. The story must involve a pick in it.

8. The story must involve a hole in it.

9. During the story, a character is killed.

10. During the story, there is an assassination.

1. Fierce

A chilling wind swept by, whistling through the air and agitating the bare branches of the fruit, oak and cypress trees, gently rustling the still-green leaves of the pine. A thin layer of ice had already formed over the top of the pond- not thick enough to skate on, but it was there nonetheless. The icy temperature from the previous night had seen to that. The sky was grey and bleak- the unnatural snows were undoubtedly returning this year.

From the highest peak of the manor, the Blue Phoenix of the House of Valens waved gently in the breeze. From the lower peaks, the Sword and Phoenix wings, the current Lady's personal insignia, also waved. Both standards were displayed on a simple field of red and white, divided diagonally from the top-right corner down to the lower left, the red half being on the bottom, the white on the top.

No doubt the enemy's ships were already advancing on the western front from the sea. No doubt Gavin and his troops were already struggling to defend Gadoria's Outer Wall. The same was probably true for Byron II and his own troops in the north.

But the king had known that this was going to happen. It had taken some convincing- on both the part of Lady Valens herself and her close friend, Lord Barlowe, but the king was safe now. For the moment, anyway. Safe in the Barlowe Estate, disguised in servant's livery, here at the southern border.

Senel's hands tightened on the balcony railing as he continued to look out at what was soon to become a battlefield. He let out a breath, sending a thin trail of mist out into the moist air.

"When did all of this start?" Lord Barlowe was a good man. He could appear dull-witted at times, due to his optimistic and idealistic nature, but right now he only seemed tired.

Senel ran a gauntleted hand through his hair- now lightly peppered with grey, though his wife was about the only one who could tell the grey from the silver. "It started years ago. We could have stopped it, but... none of us gave it any thought until it was too late."

"Well," Lord Barlowe said, lightening his tone, "Certainly we have nothing to worry about. Not with the Fist of Gadoria on our side."

Senel barked out a bitter laugh. "Just remember, I'm Crusandi by blood."

Barlowe clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Not to any of us. Whether you like it or not, Gadoria's claimed you as her own. It was you who fought off the first wave almost single-handedly."

"Father, the troops are all in position."

Senel swallowed, tearing his gaze from the landscape, and turned to see his daughter wearing the uniform that was so like her mother's, ready for battle. She carried no weapon; she had no need to. Estelle had always taken herself way too seriously, enough to put her mother to shame, but right now her face showed only grim determination, aqua eyes shining in anticipation of the coming battle.

_Dammit, she could be killed today! And only five months into her marriage! And what about Damon? He has a son now and a wife who's pregnant with his second kid!_

"Dammit!"

Senel took a moment to calm himself before turning back to Lord Barlowe. "I want you to keep an eye on things for a moment. I can't let my whole family march into battle without-"

"Senel."

The voice was calm, reassuring, but also firm. Senel turned to face Chloe. She was obviously exhausted. Restoring the House of Valens had required tremendous work and once it was done, only more work followed. Add that to the recent events leading up to this war and Senel wondered how in the world she even had the energy to belt her sword on today.

"Senel, there's no time. We have to get to the front-lines now." Senel opened his mouth to protest but Chloe only pointed. "Look. The enemy troops are already closing in."

Senel growled, wanting desperately to protest. He knew he couldn't, though. Too much hinged on this battle. Fate had been cruel; if Gadoria fell now, then the rest of the world didn't have much of a chance- Orerines or otherwise.

"Join the crystal erens, Estelle. Lord Barlowe, go with her. We're right behind you."

Agitation flickered across Chloe's features for a brief moment. "Senel-"

"Go," Senel ordered. He waited for their footsteps to fade away before motioning his wife to step back inside. He followed, closing the balcony doors behind them.

"Senel, I know what you're feeling, believe me I do." Yes. He did believe. Though she tried to mask it before, there was no mistaking the anguish in her voice now. "But we don't have the time for-"

Senel's hands found themselves wrapping around her wrists in a vice-grip. "If I can't talk to my whole family, then I _will_ talk to you." He knew his grip must hurt- hell, it hurt _him_ just clenching his fists that tight- but he couldn't make himself loosen his grip.

"Senel..."

"We wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for you."

"But _you're_ the one who-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I fought off the first wave while you were visiting the king. I'm the big-shot hero who saved Gadoria. So what? I don't care and that's not true. _You're_ the one who restored the Valens name. If it wasn't for you, I never could have pulled off what I did."

Chloe's gaze fell. "Well... I think most of the credit for restoring my House should go to Jay, Raynard, and Madame Musette. Without them I never would have pulled it off."

_Dammit, now I know how **she** felt all those years ago. _"That's not what I'm talking about, Chloe." He met her eyes. "_I _never would have made it this far without you. Hell, the _world_ would have been destroyed in a second Cataclysm if it weren't for you!"

"Senel, I-"

"No. Please, let me continue." Chloe nodded silently. Somehow, Senel managed to pry his hands away from her wrists and rest them on her shoulders. "I don't say it enough, especially since _you_ say it every day." He swallowed. "I love you, Chloe. And I-" He cut himself off that time, shaking his head. "Dammit, I don't even know what the hell I'm trying to say." He turned his face away from her.

"You don't need to," Chloe said softly. "I already understand."

Senel felt wetness leaking out of the corners of his eyes. He couldn't even remember the last time he had cried. When he brought his gaze back to his wife's face, he wasn't surprised to see that she too was silently shedding tears. Still, he couldn't force himself to be stronger, and he couldn't force the scowl off his face. "We could _die_ today, Chloe."

"I know."

His chest clenched with a pressure that had been building up for hours now. He needed to do something, and fast. If he didn't, he was going to explode.

Instinctively, he knew there was only one thing that would satisfy him.

His arms wrapped around her tightly and he felt as if he might crush her with the strength of his embrace. He leaned into her, pressing her up against a wall that found itself behind her and was aware of her own arms wrapping just as tightly around him.

He kissed her fiercely.

2. Pascha

"I feel weird."

"You're not even in the building yet."

"I still feel weird. I didn't even know what this holiday was until a few days ago."

"Really? Even the stupid bandit knew what it was."

"It's one of the few Orerines traditions that's survived, Senny. You didn't know about it?"

"I knew _about_ it, I just didn't know what it meant. I was around the Ferines more than the Orerines, remember?"

"And this is just the sort of thing that Vaclav would have wanted to keep Coolidge from knowing when he_ was _around Orerines, when you think about it."

Will cleared his throat. "The Day of Revival is, historically, the most important holiday for us Orerines. If it weren't for today, then the Creator's Champion would have just been remembered as another human being. Nothing more."

Senel shook his head as he continued to watch people holding candles enter the building in small groups. They all seemed to greet eachother warmly, even if they were complete strangers.

Even after all the time he had spent with his friends, it was still foreign to him. He was close to his friends, but they were his family. Could he really be that warm toward a stranger?

"Coolidge?" came Chloe's concerned voice. As usual, she had stayed behind with him while the rest of their friends took a few steps ahead.

"I'm fine. Like I said, it just seems weird is all."

Chloe smiled. "It won't feel like that all the time."

3. Bridges

Senel took a quick gulp of champagne. He hated this. He was extremely bitter when he really should be happy and he wasn't sure why.

Oh, that's why. It was because Chloe was now married to that stupid, philandering, idiotic scum-bag.

"Hey." A woman he didn't know sat down next to him, holding her own glass of champagne.

"Hey," Senel responded. He noticed she didn't seem too happy herself. "Sorry, but I don't think I know you."

The woman took a sip. "I'm a friend of-" she cut herself off. "I know the groom."

"Really." Senel's eyes found the couple dancing in the center of the dance floor. The jerk had an idiotic grin plastered across his face. He couldn't see Chloe's expression.

"I'd like to say he's not as bad as he seems, but that would be a lie."

Senel nodded. Now the moron was whispering something to her. "It's all politics. I think Chloe felt like it was her duty to marry him."

The woman nodded. "Probably. Heh, I'd probably do the same thing in her place, being the Emissary of Peace and all."

Senel's eyes widened. "_You're_ the Emissary?"

The woman nodded. "Yeah. I'm Sheena. Sheena Fujibayashi."

"Senel Coolidge."

A moment of silence passed between them. Finally, Sheena spoke again. "Did you love her?"

Senel blinked. "What?"

"You seem to be taking this wedding pretty hard."

Senel shook his head. "I cared about her, but..." He decided to change the subject, "You know, you seem pretty upset yourself."

Sheena laughed once. "I thought I knew that idiot. I didn't think he would pull a stunt like this." Senel thought he heard her mutter something like "stupid chosen" as she took another sip.

He still couldn't see Chloe's face and it bothered him. All day he hadn't been able to tell anything about what Chloe felt. Even when they had exchanged vows, he couldn't tell whether Chloe was at all happy or not. That alone made him think that she wasn't.

Senel stood. "I'm sorry. I know this is out of nowhere, but do you want to dance?"

Sheena paused before nodding slowly. "I think I would like that."

Both of them knew the dance meant nothing. They were simply two people who were trying not to erupt and protest the entire event. And they both had ulterior motives.

Senel led Sheena closer to the center of the dance floor, all the while keeping an eye out to catch a glimpse of Chloe's face. Finally he saw it. It was a blank mask, just as he had suspected.

Little did he know that Zelos' plastered grin was also a mask.

4. Ruthless

Chloe stood by the door to her father's study. Her parents were talking about the war again.

"I just don't understand it, Rolan! _Another_ child? _ Seven-years-old?_ I know Vaclav is cruel, but this takes things to a whole new level!"

Seven years old? That was as old as she was herself!

"I know, Ellen. I know. And it's a real shame that we can't do more to prevent this from happening."

Her mother let out a breath. "I know." There was a pause and Chloe strained her ears to hear more. "I know you're doing your best, Rolan. I'm sorry, I shouldn't take out my frustration on you."

"Don't fret about it, my dear. I understand your frustration at all of this. War is a horrible thing."

That was all that they said for a while. Chloe stood up to leave when her mother spoke again.

"He sounded like such a handsome child, too. Silver hair and aqua eyes."

Silver hair and aqua eyes? Chloe tried to imagine what that would look like, but she couldn't. Everyone from Gadoria had both dark hair and eyes.

"Well then," her father said, "perhaps he will make some girl very happy some day. A handsome soldier is sure to have trouble keeping the ladies at bay. I should know."

"Oh, be quiet, Rolan." Her mother's voice was now laced with mirth.

"Chloe!"

Chloe cringed.

"Were you eavesdropping on your parents?"

Chloe looked up. "I didn't hear much, Nicole." She knew that if she lied she would just get into more trouble.

Nicole shook her head. "You know that's not a polite thing to do. Come along, you have your lessons to worry about."

Chloe stood up reluctantly, pouting.

She hated lessons.

5. Ancestry

Dragomir Coolidge smiled at his wife, Larisa.

"I have a good feeling about his season. I think we'll make a good sum this time."

Larisa laughed and leaned in to kiss her husband. "I think so too. Nothing can get in our way."

"No. After all, there's always a high demand for liquor." They both laughed at that.

"Oi! Why dont'cha keep up the pace back there, would ya?"

Dragomir rolled his eyes and snapped the reins, encouraging the two horses to increase their speed to a trot. Khala was a good friend, but he could certainly be impatient sometimes.

6. Storm

"Are you sure this is a god idea, Coolidge?" Chloe yelled over the noise of the storm. "This storm seems unnatural, maybe we should ride it out inside the cabin!

"If we try to ride it out we won't make it! The best thing to do is to head for the eye of the storm!"

The ship lurched, and Senel could see Chloe scrambling to grab the railing to keep from falling. She still wasn't too comfortable with boats. He glanced at her. "Go on ahead back to the cabin! I'll be fine!"

"No way, Coolidge!"

A bolt of lightning hit the back end of the ship, causing the entire stern to erupt in flame before Senel could protest. He tightened his grip on the controls.

"We gotta put out that fire!"

Chloe turned to get a better look at the fire, still keeping her hands tightly wrapped around the railing as the ship continued to lurch back and forth. "How?"

"We need to-"

Senel was cut off as another violent wave hit the ship, knocking him forward into the controls, making him lose his grip. The ship pitched backward and he fell. "Dammit!" He lifted a hand to his head and looked up. As he did so, his vision was fast-filling with greyish-blue. "Oh no..."

"Coolidge, are you alright?"

Senel scrambled to his feet and made his way to Chloe, where she was still looking at the fire.

"I'm fine."

Her eyes snapped to him. "Why did you leave the controls?" He could tell she knew something was wrong.

"We're going to be fine." Senel hooked his arm through the railing and grabbed hold of her hand. "Just hang on tight and keep looking at me."

"Senel, what-"

Suddenly the ship started to lift, the deck angling upward. Out of the corner of his eye, Senel could see the bottom of the wave that was lifting them. Chloe's eyes locked on the water beneath them for a split second before she clenched her eyes shut and clung to him, terrified.

Senel tried to calm his own breathing and wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her closer and giving himself a better grip on the railing. The ship continued to angle upward until they were left dangling.

For the longest four seconds of his life, he continued to cling to the railing, holding both it and Chloe in a death grip. The cargo on deck, though it had been tied down, started to slide off the side of the ship.

Then they fell.

It was strange, but Senel's last thoughts before the water engulfed them were, _Well at least the fire was put out._

...xXx...

Senel groaned. His mouth tasted like dirt.

Dirt?

Senel opened his eyes slowly and at first saw only blackness. He blinked a couple of times before he noticed that there was some blue mixed in with the black, and it took another couple of seconds for him to realize that he was looking at Chloe's cape.

"Chloe, are-" He coughed, then spit out a mouthful of sand. He pushed himself up onto his elbow and shook her gently by the shoulder. "Chloe, are you alright?"

"...Coolidge...?" She sat up, rubbing her head. "Where are we?"

He sat up as well. "Some kind of island." He paused, taking in the sound of the waves and the feel of the gentle breeze. The storm was over, and it looked like the better part of their ship was just a few yards away. "We were lucky to survive."

"Survive?"

He glanced at Chloe who was rubbing her temples, eyes closed and frowning. "Yeah. You don't remember what happened?"

"Ugh..." She blinked a couple of times. "Not really, I..." Her eyes found the wreckage of the ship. She stood up slowly, the pieces coming together. Senel followed suit.

"We were in that storm and... now..." She took a few steps forward.

"Chloe?"

She whirled around suddenly, throwing her hands up in the air. "I knew it. I just _knew_ that one day fate would decide that it hates me and force me to take part in a shipwreck!"

7. Horror

"He opened the door slowly- creeeeeaaaak..!- and then he made his way to the couch. And that was when they saw it..." Norma paused for dramatic effect. "the bloody ghost of Duke Ferdinand! Ooooooweeeeeooooo!"

Silence greeted her. Shirley coughed. "Um, the sound effects were better in that one, Gnorma."

"Aw, geez! You guys are no fun at all!"

"_Ah_ got a good story."

Jay rolled his eyes. "And is this story from a valid source this time? Or is it another urban legend?"

Moses was dead serious. "It happened to Csaba." The group fell silent. Moses leaned forward, the light of the campfire playing eerily across his eye patch.

"One night, around the time Ah first found Giet, we were campin' near this tiny little minin' town. Ah think it was caled Jerome or somethin'. Anyway, we heard that the mine had had several accidents before, but usually no one got hurt. Except one time. A miner died in a real bad cave-in. It hadn't happened long before we got there, actually. He still had friends alive and they said that right before the cave-in, he had shouted somthin' 'bout findin' some big deposit of gold. Well, they recovered his body and gave him a proper burial. Soon after, though, folks started to see things.

"We were kids at the time and told not to go near the mine. But Csaba was curious one day and wandered over. He started getting' the chills and he said he felt like someone was watchin' him. He made it to the entrance of the mine, but by then he was too freaked out to go inside. He didn't have to. As he turned to leave, he saw a figure just standin' there in the distance, breathin' real heavy. He said he tried to call out to the man, but the man didn't say nothin' at first. Instead, he just took off runnin' toward Csaba, holdin' a pick above his head and wavin' it in the air. Finally her started yellin', 'Yer here to get my gold, aint' ya?' Csaba ran as fast as he could, and when he made it back to camp Ah asked him what was wrong. He told me what happened, but Ah didn't believe him. Not until the next day.

"The next day, one of the townsfolk told us that he had seen the ghost of the miner the night before, and that it was chasin' Csaba."

The party all stared at him with looks of horror. It wasn't long before Moses couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing, slapping his knee. "Oh man! Ya'll totally believed it, haha!"

"Ugh! Red!"

Jay scowled. "I was not scared, you idiot."

"N-N-Neither was I," Shirley said shakily.

Will only coughed, while Chloe hurriedly wiped the look of fear off her face and crossed her arms, pretending she had never been scared in the first place.

As they all went to bed, no one noticed that Senel's expression was dead-serious.

...xXx...

"Alright everyone, we're here," Will announced as they came upon the cave. "There have been reports of strange activity in these caves, mostly colored lights seen inside and in the surrounding area. It splits up into two separate paths early on, so we'll have to split up as well. Senel, Shirley, and Chloe will take the path to the right while the rest of us will take the left."

"Alright, let's do it!" Norma pumped her fist in the air, charging ahead.

It wasn't long before Senel found himself walking next to Chloe, Shirley just a step behind them, as they advanced through the tunnel.

"Coolidge, are you alright?"

Senel nearly jumped at the sudden question. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"It was just a story, Senel," Shirley said from behind them.

Senel nodded to himself. "I know that. I"m fine Shirley." He tried to smile reassuringly but failed miserably.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Senel's afraid of mines," Shirley supplied.

"Mines?"

"Yeah." Senel sighed. "Remember I told you I liked to read Crusandi comic books?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes, remembering the KawkawMan incident. "Yes..."

"Well, there was this comic called 'The S-Files'. It was about these people who investigated weird and unexplainable stuff likes ghosts and things like that. Well, in one issue they kept hearing reports about a ghost miner. Turns out it was some crazy serial killer who kept killing people with a pick."

"And that scared you..?"

"Hey, it was a gruesome issue. Especially for an eight-year-old boy."

Suddenly a loud noise echoed through the cave behind them, causing all three of them to jump. Senel was the only one who yelled. "Sorry," he muttered.

Chloe drew her sword quietly. "Who's there?" she called.

Another sound answered them, this one coming from deeper within the cave. All three of them whirled around.

"Show yourself!"

An eerie green light appeared from further into the cave, blinking slowly. With each blink it grew brighter until it was almost too bright to look at. A humanoid figure stepped in front of the light.

"AAAHHHH! ALIEN!"

Without another word, Senel took off back toward the entrance of the cave, leaving the two girls behind.

Chloe shook her head as the humanoid advanced. "Demon Fang!"

...xXx...

Senel stood bent over, hands on his knees, panting. He knew he had to go back. He couldn't let two of his friends be abducted! _Come on, Senel. You've fought Vaclav, Nerifes, Schwarts, __**and**__ food-based monsters! You can do this!_

Confidence built up, he turned around to go back.

As soon as he looked back at the dark cave, his sudden confidence shattered. _What am I going to do?_

"Senel!"

He barely had time to look before Shirley tackled him with a hug. Chloe merely stood, hands on hips, a single eyebrow raised.

"You're afraid of aliens too?"

Senel laughed nervously. "They came up a lot in The S-Files. How did you guys escape?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "It was a new breed of poisonous Ramen Gentleman. Not an alien."

"Oh..."

"Coolidge, you do remember that we're technically aliens ourselves, right?"

"I try not to think about it."

8. Tolerant

Colors swirled around her, making her head hurt, and she clenched her eyes shut. She hoped this wasn't part of the test, because all the swirling images were making her head spin.

Only seconds ago she had been back in the forest of the island when that mysterious womanly figure had appeared to her, all silvery just like the fog. She had said that if Chloe could endure these visions, she would be granted the favor of the Creator.

"Chloe, wake up. I think the kids are awake already."

What? The kids? And since when was she lying down?

Chloe blinked her eyes open and came face-to-face with a shirtless Senel. Next to her. In bed.

It was only natural that she scream.

"Hey, hey! Shh, it's alright." Senel propped himself up on one elbow. "Did you have another nightmare?" He wore a concerned expression.

"Um, yeah," Chloe replied. "A... nightmare..." She gulped, trying to calm herself. She had expected horrible images, not something like this!

Then it dawned on her. "Kids?" she said faintly.

"Yeah. You remember how excited Estelle was, and I'm sure even Damon got up early today."

Today? Chloe looked at their surroundings and saw a few holiday decorations around the room. So today must be Christmas.

She glanced at Senel once more before getting out of bed, thankful that this- whenever this was- was a time when she still wore her usual long-sleeved silk shirt and pants to sleep in. Anything else would have been far too uncomfortable, especially if they apparently had kids.

Chloe wanted to groan. _ If we have kids, then that means..._ She knew she should be happy- this was what she wanted, wasn't it?- but it was still a shock to wake up to this. Being a knight, she couldn't help but feel a bit of somewhat childish disgust as well.

When Senel came into her line of sight, he was, thankfully, wearing a robe. "Come on. Let's go see them open their gifts."

Chloe nodded slowly. "Right."

But when she walked through the door, she suddenly found herself Jay's house.

The information dealer sighed when he saw her. She noticed that he was a good deal older than when she had seen him last, only about a month ago.

"You're not going to like what I've found, Chloe."

"What did you find?" was all Chloe could think to say.

Jay searched her face for something she couldn't identify. He spoke slowly. "Estelle was taken by a group of ninjas. You already know that. You also know that this group was affiliated with my old master, Solon." He took a deep breath. "You might be happy to hear that the one who hired them was not the Second Prince of Crusand as we had suspected."

"Alright..." Chloe's mind raced. Hadn't Coolidge said on of their kids was named Estelle?

"The bad news is that I have no way of knowing who exactly did hire them. The only information that I've found is that it is rumored to be someone from Tyracia."

"Tyracia?" Chloe didn't have to know what was going on to be shocked at that. Tyracia was a fairly small kingdom near the northern tip of the Mainland. It was so far north that it was a land covered in snow all year long.

Was this really her future daughter Jay was talking about? Chloe suddenly felt sick. She closed her eyes, leaning against the wall.

When she opened them, Chloe found herself back at Valens Manor, talking with Sir Gavin. She wasn't there for long before the location changed again. And again. And it kept changing, showing various points of what was supposed to be her future- a few good moments, but most bad. None of them was as bad as the last thing she saw, though.

She was badly injured. She felt pain in her stomach, but it was distant, as if it belonged to someone else.

The pain wasn't what concerned her though, Senel was.

She crawled over to where he lay sprawled on the floor, not moving. A large hole covered most of the right side of his chest, as if he had been stabbed with an enemy spear and then had the weapon wrenched out of him.

"Senel?" She laid a hand on his forhead. "Senel!"

He coughed, spraying blood. He looked up at her and smiled. "I was too slow."

"Don't talk, Senel." She was surprised her voice was so steady. Surprised and somewhat bothered by it. How could she sound so calm when she knew what was happening? Anguish twisted inside of her. _Don't show me this..._

"I'm glad you'll outlive me, Chloe." She wasn't so sure. The pain was distant, but it was definitely taking a toll on her.

"Don't talk like that, Senel. You'll be fine. I'll go get Raynard and Norma and we'll both be fine." It felt like an icy fist had wrapped its fingers around her heart.

Senel shook his head. "Will's not with us any more, remember? And Norma's probably got her hands full still." He coughed again.

"Stop talking, Senel. Please, just stop talking." She blinked, her eyelids starting to feel heavy. The ground next to Senel seemed to be calling to her to lie down. "You're not going to leave me like this."

Senel's calloused hand found its way to her cheek. "I love you, Chloe." She could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"I know. I love you too." She moved her hand from his forehead to the hand that was still cupping her cheek.

Pain blossomed in her shoulder and she knew it was an enemy arrow. Her right arm went limp and she crashed down to the floor.

Darkness closed in.

When Chloe next opened her eyes, she wondered what she was doing in the middle of the forest. Hadn't she been with Coolidge just a moment ago?

9. Immortal

"Coolidge, are you sure about this?"

Senel met Chloe's gaze. She was dead serious. He nodded, grim. "I'm sure. It's time we finally won. I won't lose. I can't."

"Coolidge..." Chloe looked away. She grasped her arm. The enemy he was about to face had injured that arm when she had tried to defeat it herself not that long ago. Every one of them had been injured before, trying to defeat this enemy. None of them had succeeded, and none of them was foolish enough to try again.

Except Senel.

"I'll be alright," Senel said reassuringly. "She won't know what hit her."

Chloe met his eyes and nodded. "Please... Be careful, Senel."

Senel nodded. "I will be." He turned to leave.

"Senel!"

He glanced behind him. "What is it?"

Chloe glanced around nervously. He wasn't sure why. The others were all already up above.

Suddenly, Chloe lunged forward, taking his face in her hands and kissing him. At first Senel could only blink, his brain struggling to process what was going on. But when Chloe deepened the kiss he found him self relaxing, and returned the favor.

It wasn't long before she pulled away, turning her face away from him.

"Chloe." He placed a finger under her chin, guiding her face up so he could look her in the eye. "I'll be alright."

Chloe brushed his hand away gently. "I know." She let out a shaky breath. "I know."

Senel continued to meet her gaze for a moment more before he turned and entered the arena.

The gate at the opposite opened slowly, an eerie mist spilling out of its depths and onto the arena floor. His enemy's silhouette came into view and Senel settled into a fighting stance.

The announcer raised his hand. "Ready? Fight!"

"Demon Bread!"

Senel dodged the baker's attack and fired his own Twin Demon Fist at her. He followed the energy wave and jumped into the air to execute Phoenix Strike.

Mimi was too fast, though. She sidestepped out of the way at the last minute, dodging both of his attacks. "Bread Rain: Alpha!"

Senel braced himself for the onslaught of jabs from her baguette, wondering how in the world a piece of bread seemed to hurt more than when Chloe had stabbed him.

He backed up to give himself some room, sending another Twin Demon Fist at Mimi. This time it hit, but it obviously didn't do any damage.

"Alright, time to forget the theatrics. I just need to win!" Senel rushed forward, planning on using a strategy he had used many times against tough humanoid enemies. "Beast!" His attack connected, forcing Mimi to the ground. "Landslide!" He grabber her ankle and whirled her around above his head, then slamming her back on the ground.

Mimi got up again, but Senel wasted no time in hitting her with another Beast attack, followed by a second Landslide. He continued using the two attacks relentlessly, allowing her no time at all to some much as lift her baguette against him.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Mimi didn't get up.

Senel's eyes widened. "I... I won!"

Up above, he heard Shirley scream. Chloe came rushing into the arena. "Coolidge! You weren't supposed to kill her!"

He whirled around to face the knight. "What? I didn't kill her!"

They both looked at the baker who was still lying on the ground, unmoving.

Chloe glared. "She looks pretty dead to me."

"I didn't mean to!"

"Despicable. How could you do such a thing, Coolidge?"

"But I didn't mean-"

"Demon Bread!"

The attack hit Senel, knocking him forward and flat onto his face.

Mimi smiled. "Yeast runs through my veins. I shall _always_ rise again!"

10. Suspicion

"Hello, Lord Byron."

Jian Byron whirled around. "How did you get in here?"

The dark figure in the doorway laughed. "It was easy. There's this amazing invention called a 'door' which allows people to-"

"Don't play stupid with me! What do you want?" His fingers wrapped around the golden hilt of the dagger in his belt.

"Me? Simple. I want the same thing you do. To keep Valens from getting too powerful. The last thing Gadoria needs is for another childish idealist to be spending money on peasants."

Byron narrowed his eyes. "So why are you here?"

The figure stepped into the light. It was a woman he didn't recognize. A woman with black hair and the standard uniform of a Gadorian knight. Only she was wearing the Valens colors. "I am here to frame Chloe Valens." She lunged at him, broadsword extended forward.

Byron didn't even have time to draw his dagger.

...xXx...

"Don't you _see,_ Chloe? Don't you see that this entire situation could win you a trip to the gallows?"

Chloe took a sip from her goblet calmly. "I am very aware of the situation, Sir Gavin, but the fact of the matter is I am _not_ the one who assassinated Lord Byron."

Gavin whirled around, hands clamping down on her shoulders. "Don't be an idiot! You know everyone's looking for the slightest excuse to get you out of their hair!"

"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Gavin met Senel's glare, but backed off nonetheless. "Besides," Senel continued, "I thought _you_ were one of them."

Gavin snorted and turned away from the two of them. "Nothing is as simple as it appears, Lord Coolidge."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you _always_ appreciate a pretty face so long as it belongs to a woman who knows their place in society, right?"

"Senel-"

"You sick bastard! I'm gonna pound you into the ground!"

"Senel!" Chloe stepped in front of him. "Don't make the situation any worse than it already is."

Senel shot Gavin one last scowl. "And I'm no damn lord." He turned back around, crossing his arms.

"Both of you please, calm down. I know the evidence against me is convincing, but I do have an alibi. I was here, sleeping. Nicole was still awake during the time that Lord Byron was attacked, so she would have known if I had left. Not only that, but the evidence at the crime scene simply isn't enough to prove that I did anything. Thankfully Raynard and Jay were both here on the Mainland. They should be here in a couple of days to look over the evidence themselves. I have confidence in the both of their abilities. I wish you two did as well."

Gavin snorted again. "A brat and a former exile. I don't know either of them at all, Lady Valens, so you'll excuse me if my trust in them is lacking." With that, he stalked out of the room.

Senel sighed. "Chloe, I'm sorry. You're right, Will and Jay will prove your innocence."

Chloe nodded. "Don't worry, Senel. I'm worried too."

...xXx...

Xonel: Well, I hope you all enjoyed, even though most of these were, in my opinion, pretty depressing. But then, I couldn't exactly help that because the prompts were kinda hard to work with without making things depressing. Or maybe its just that I'm part of the stage crew for a very depressing play and its getting to me. Hm... I'm not sure. In any case, finals are less than a week away now as well, so that'll probably delay all of my writing for a couple of weeks. When I do write though, I'll be sure its something humorous! In fact, it might even be the next installment of HVWI! But I won't say for sure cuz I don't want to jinx it.

By the way, to anyone who cares at all, I've finally given in and created a deviantart account, under "Xonel" (of course). I have 4 "Christmas Chloe" pictures up, although I really should say only 3. In other words, now you guys can see what horrible visual art abilities I have! lol.

Another point of interest: I'm thinking of starting up a brand new discussion forum for Legendia here on . I might even come up with a few writing challenges. I'm not entirely sure if I will yet, but I might.

Until next time, take care everyone! And as always, reviews are like Miracle Gels!


	5. Chapter 5

Xonel: I'm so lame. But we all knew that, lol. Anyway, I'm lame this time because I had planned on getting out the next chapter of HVWI and a Christmas story published before Christmas. That deadline changed to New Years. And so on and so forth. And then I got Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and Pokemon Soul Silver (yes, I play Pokemon and am proud).

But! I'm actually pretty close to having the next chapter done. And I at least got this done during that time. Ooh! And I also put together a Chlenel playlist. And wow, I'm starting to sound like Norma, lol.

I'll put the playlist in at the end, as well as the song I used as inspiration for #10 in this chapter. Let me just say, though, that for some reason all of these were especially fun to write. As promised, most of them are comedy, although there is some serious stuff as well. But, I'll finish up my comments at the end. Just cuz I'm feeling chatty today.

On a side note, I finally remembered some things I've been wanting to say each chapter. Like the character that Senel and Chloe talk about in #8 of Chapter 1 is Azula from Avatar: the Last Airbender. In the last chapter, I felt like ripping apart my two favorite Tales pairings for some reason; obviously that's a stand-alone thing that doesn't actually happen. Oh, and #9 in chapter 3 is based off of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Also, special thanks to everyone who's been reviewing so far!

With that said, here's the list of prompts:

1. The story must involve a stained-glass window at the end.

2. The story must involve some boots or shoes at the end.

3. The story is set during a snowstorm.

4. A character writes a diary, and they are surprisingly overenthused about it.

5. The story must have a phoenix at the end.

6. A character will get dressed.

7. During the story, there is an assassination.

8. The story takes place five years in the past.

9. The story must have an advisor in it.

10. A character becomes wiser during the story.

1. Weak

"Estelle..." Damon spoke softly. Recently he had had mixed feelings about his sister. He used to be her beloved big brother, who would always watch over and protect her. It had only been a matter of time before she didn't want to have to rely on him to protect her any more. As she grew into her teenaged years, her attitude began to change. She had always liked to make fun of him, but lately her jabs at him had been more akin to personal attacks. He didn't understand it at first. It was like suddenly she wanted to shove it in his face that she was the smarter of the two of them, and by a great deal. He didn't used to care at all, but when she constantly tried to make an idiot out of him, it started to bother him. At first he just let her comments slide off of him, not paying any attention to them. But eventually he couldn't take them any more. He still tried not to retaliate, but he had started to avoid her. It was the only thing he could think to do when he didn't understand her sudden resentment toward him.

Her yelling match with their parents had revealed everything just minutes earlier.

"Go away, Damon," came her cold reply.

"No." Damon stepped the rest of the way in her room, pulling the door shut behind him, but not quite latching it. "Estelle, I never knew this was bothering you so much. Why didn't you tell me?"

She shot him a dark glare. "Why should I? You would only make fun of me."

"No I wouldn't! I'm surprised you kept it hidden all this time. I can't imagine what you must have gone through..."

Estelle only turned away from him.

Damon sat down next to her on the bed. He could see the trails left by the hot tears she had shed earlier, but he said nothing about them. He knew it would only upset her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Damon ventured to ask, "How did you deal with it?"

"Deal with what?" came the sharp reply.

"Training. I mean... You must have really pushed yourself. I can't imagine what it must be like to even attempt half of the attacks I know without my eres to help me. And then, of course, there's the... well, you know."

Estelle let out a breath. It seemed she was finally calming down. "It was hard. Even now, half of Mother's weapons are too heavy for me to effectively use in combat." Her shoulders slumped. "I always used to wonder why it seemed like things were so much easier for you, why it seemed like moving the blade through the air looked effortless when you did it..."

Damon remained silent, Estelle'e earlier words from the argument echoing through his head: _I can't use iron eres, and I can't even run a mile before it gets hard to breath! But I never told you because I wanted to be a knight, just like you!_

The memory was still fresh. He could see the look of pure frustration and defeat on Estelle's face, and the look of complete shock on their mother's. He had been shocked too. He always knew Estelle was proud of her heritage, being noble-born and coming from a family of knights. But he had always imagined that he would be the one to carry the sword. He never knew that Estelle wanted the same thing. He always supposed she would be the genius in the background.

"Estelle, you've held an eres stone before, right?"

She scowled. "Of course I have. We both have, many times."

"And it always glows for you, doesn't it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Well, then its simple. You must be a crystal eren instead."

She laughed bitterly. "I know you're trying to make me feel better, Damey, but the fact of the matter is that crystal eres won't give me the raw power and the helath that I need to wield a broadsword."

"Well, then you need to use a different weapon. Come on, you've seen Mr. Raynard's attacks. Can you imagine how awesome that would be to unleash something like Extension?"

"Oh, yes, and I'll have to rely on you to keep the enemy at bay while I recite the incantation. Don't you get it? If I'm a crystal eren I'll always have to depend on someone else to look after me!"

"No you won't. Look at how hard you've trained already! Minus the erens, you're just as good as any knight in Gadoria's army-"

"No, I'm not, Damon!" Estelle stood. "Don't you understand it? My lungs can't take the exertion required to wield a sword!"

Damon sighed. "Then use a diff-"

"Forget it. I won't use any weapon other than a sword."

It was Damon's turn to roll his eyes. "Now you're just being childish."

"I don't care!" Estelle stalked over to her desk, pressing her palms against the surface. "I've thought about it before. If I can't wield a sword, then I'll ask Father to teach me his style of fighting."

"And that'll be alright with you? That'll be good enough?"

Estelle looked at him over her shoulder and smiled bitterly. "Since when has anything been good enough to me, Damey?"

...xXx...

The sanctuary was near empty. That was why Estelle liked to come this time of the week.

There was no denying that Gadorians managed to twist and corrupt everything, including the church. But since she had been born, Estelle had grown up with the same knightly principles and ideals that had been in her faimly for many generations. She had been taught that being a knight came alongside being involved in the church, and, more importantly, being sincere about her faith in the Creator.

That was why she sat here now, not completely sure what she should do, but feeling that this was the right place to be.

She looked up at the tall stained-glass window at the far end of the chapel. It was one of the more traditional images of the Creator's Champion. He wore white and red robes, arms outstretched, seemingly floating in the air with golden light surrounding him.

Simply looking at the stained-glass usually filled Estelle with hope, but today she still felt doubt._ I know I can be a half-way decent fighter when it comes to hand-to-hand combat- even with this curse of an illness I have. But please... Let me be a powerful crystal eren..._

2. Lucky

"I wonder why Senel ran off like that..."

"I don't think any of us know the answer to that one, Shirl."

Shirley nodded. "I'm glad he's back now."

"I'm not sure Senel is out of trouble just yet, though," Jay said, the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

"Why do ya say that?"

It was at that point that Will came out of the room.

"Senel just woke up."

"Then why'd ya just come out of th-"

"NEXT TIME YOU RUN OFF LIKE THAT AT LEAST TAKE THESE WITH YOU!"

Chloe stalked out of the room and straight out of the hospital, fuming.

Will cleared his throat. "Does that answer your question, Moses?"

He went back in the room, the others following him.

Senel looked up at them with a bewildered look. "Do any of you know why Chloe threw the Persian Boots at me?"

Jay shrugged. "Perhaps it has something to do with fact that you were almost killed?"

3. Maternal

Jay's words echoed through her mind like a mantra. "My sources have confirmed our fears. Your daughter is being taken to Tyracia."

The wind blew her hair in front of her eyes mercilessly. Her beret had been lost long ago, but she couldn't care less. With Castle Tyracia so close, she couldn't stop and wait for this storm to pass. Even this blizzard wasn't about to stop her when her daughter was near. She didn't care how foolish it was to be out right now.

"Hello, Lady Valens."

Her head snapped toward the direction of the voice. It took her a second to realize how strange it was that she could hear such a calm voice over the roar of the storm. Seeing the grey-clad hooded figure standing there watching her didn't help her suspicion.

"Who are you?" she demanded over the noise of the wind.

The figure tilted its head slightly. "No one of consequence. I just thought you should know that your daughter is not in the castle."

Chloe's eyes widened and she bared her teeth. "Where is she? Where is Estelle?"

"I can't tell you everything, now can I, Lady Valens?" The figure spoke her name mockingly. "You have to figure some of it out for yourself or it won't be any fun at all.

Fury flared within her. "You monster! Tell me where she is!" Her voice cracked as she screamed over the blizzard.

The figure sighed showily. "Do you really think that losing your temper will make me tell you? You're not very good at playing games, are you?"

That caused what little control she had to snap. She drew her sword and lunged toward the figure, only for it to vanish among the swirling snow in the air.

"Damn you!"

Chloe fell to her knees, slamming her fists down into the snow. Her anger dissipated, leaving grief in its wake. She leaned forward, resting her forhead on her hands, as her body began to convulse with broken sobs. She shook her head, wondering how she could have let this happen; how she could have let Estelle be taken away from her.

She clenched her fists, nails digging into her skin hard enough to draw blood, as she thought about the daughter who had been stolen from her. She remembered vividly the argument they had had a few years ago. It was then that Chloe had realized just how much Estelle had wanted to honor the Valens name and become a knight. She had realized too, just how disappointed she was that that wasn't possible. But it wasn't in Estelle's nature to remain disappointed and not do anything about it. She had asked Raynard to help her and he had. She had mastered some of the most difficult crystal eres in record time, and that was only the beginning. It wasn't long before it was obvious just how powerful Estelle was.

This wasn't the first time that Chloe realized just how much her daughter was like her when she was younger.

The thought only served to reinforce the pain she was feeling. That daughter- that same amazing daughter- was now somewhere in the capital of the coldest country in the world. There was no telling what she was going through right now, and that thought alone was enough to make Chloe sick.

"Oh, please, Creator," she said fervently, "let her be well. Let her be safe." With that she broke into renewed sobs.

And then she realized, out of nowhere, why Alcott had done what he had done. It hit her like nothing else had. The pain of losing a child, of not knowing what could be happening to them, was a pain that could not be expressed with words. It was a pain that seared the soul and gnawed at the heart. It was a pain that drove one to revert to their instincts and do whatever had to be done to save their child, nomatter the consequences. Alcott wasn't a murderer, he wasn't a killer, but her father had put up resistance when Alcott had demanded their valuables, and because he was not in his right mind, Alcott had done what would get him the money needed to save Elsa as quickly as possible. He drove his sword through him. When her mother had screamed and tried to fight him off, he had done the same to her.

And now she understood all of it. And really, had she handled that pain any better? When Raynard, a man for whom she had always held the highest respect, had first told her that Estelle was taken, she had almost strangled him, demanding to know how he could tell her such a thing so calmly.

"Chloe!"

She let out a shaky breath and scrubbed her face, thankful and somewhat surprised that her tears hadn't frozen on her face. She looked up to see Senel struggling through the snow toward her. She stood.

When he reached her he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. "You shouldn't have gone out in this."

"I know." Chloe returned his embrace just as tightly, suddenly realizing just how cold it was, and buried her face in the crook of his neck, thankful for his warmth.

"Damon is back at the inn. I told him not to worry and that we'd be back soon."

She swallowed. "I can finally say it now, Senel."

"Say what?" he asked softly.

"That I forgive him." She let out a breath. "I forgive Arnold Alcott."

4. Sexy

"Hey, C! What are you doing?"

"I am writing an entry in my diary," Chloe declared.

Norma raised an eyebrow. "You keep a diary?"

Chloe faltered. "Yes, why? Doesn't everyone?"

"Not really, no. Some do, but you never seemed the type." Norma grinned suddenly. "Man, C! You're full of surprises! First pirate romance novels and now-"

"Don't say that so loud!"

Norma laughed. "Anyway, it seems like you're really looking forward to writing in it this time. Are you gonna write about Senny?"

Chloe crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "No. It's obvious he only has eyes for Shirley. And if he's not going to pay attention to all the hints I've dropped then I might as well direct my interest elsewhere."

Norma narrowed her eyes, then smiled suddenly. "Oh, I get it. You have a crush on someone else, now."

"W-What?" Chloe's eyes widened. She hadn't intended to let that slip. "W-What would make you think that?"

"Ooh! Who is it? Is it one of those guys from that 'Sylvarant' country or whatever? Tell me!"

"Why should I? I'm not going to have a repeat of all those embarrasing moments with Coolidge you made me suffer through!"

"It's Double-L, isn't it?"

"Of course not!"

"Hm... Well, I don't think your a pedophile, so it can't be Shorty, and I can't imagine you would want to be with Pinky, so... Ew! It's not Pops, is it? I never thought you'd go for older guys, C!"

Chloes face turned red. "Of course its not Bryant! A-and besides, what's wrong with liking someone older than me?"

Norma frowned, thinking. "Wait, so if it's not Pops, then..." Suddenly she burst out laughing. "Wait, you're not telling me it's Stone-face, are you? Man, that's just weird!"

"S-Shut up, Norma!"

"Not until you admit it out loud!"

"Never!"

...xXx...

_Dear Diary_

_I was finally able to get away from Norma long enough to write what I've been wanting to write ever since I met him. Of course, Norma just corrupted that enthusiasm and claimed that I was just having a "fan-girl crush", which is preposterous. I am a knight, I do not act like a fluff-brained schoolgirl._

_Of course, now I'm upset so I can't write what I wanted to. Norma wouldn't let up teasing me about the fact that he claims to be over 4,000 years old. And of course she had to point out the fact that he resembles Irving. She even went so far as to say he could be Irving's father, which is just ridiculous. He looks far too young for that to be true._

_However, she also pointed out that I still have competition in this new "conquest", as she put it. I have to admit that its true, though. The only time he seems to soften is when he's around Professor Raine._

_Even so, I can't let that get to me. Even if its hopeless, I can't help but appreciate him, can I? His swordsmanship is the best I've ever seen and well... I have to admit that he is easy on the eyes. I can't believe I'm writing this, but... the way his hair hangs in front of his eyes is just se_

"Hahahaha! You were about to say Kratos' hair is sexy, weren't you?"

"Stop reading over my shoulder, Norma!"

5. Legend

Long ago, before even the Kingdom of Terises came into existence, the people of the Land were divided, as they always had been.

The people did not remember their heritage. They did not remember the white rectangular ship. They did not remember their homeland. They remembered nothing of Earth and its countries.

They banded together without regard of their past and their past differences. People who were once known as English allied themselves with people who had once been called Japanese and settled in the center of one of the two great continents. People who had once been called German allied themselves with others who had been called Russian and settled near the western coast of that same great continent. People who had once been called Scottish allied themselves with people who had once been called French and settled near the great mountains, also near the western coast.

They did not know that one day, their three peoples would become known as the three Great Powers.

One man, who lived near the mountains, saw a dragon flying in the sky one day. The dragon would come back every day, flying closer and closer to his village, until it attacked.

The man was furious with the beast, and asked the best blacksmith, a man known as Coolidge, to forge him a mighty sword, so that he could slay the beast.

For nine months, Coolidge worked his forge and created a mighty claymore. The man thanked Coolidge and took the claymore with him to the mountain where the dragon lived.

He entered the dragon's lair and fought it, but the dragon was too great for him to defeat. Right when the dragon was about to strike him down, the lair was filled with a blue light, and a bird made entirely of blue flame slew the dragon, saving the man.

The giant bird flew away before the man could thank it, and the man returned to his village. He declared that from then on his clan, called Valens, would take the blue phoenix as their standard.

And it has remained so, to this very day.

6. Nerves

Senel swallowed.

Alright, so he had been nervous proposing to Chloe, sure. But even that couldn't compare to _this._

He continued to stare up at his ceiling for a few minutes. A few minutes turned into an hour, and soon someone was knocking on his door.

"Yo, Senel! Ya ready yet?"

Senel opened his mouth to answer, but found that for some reason the words just wouldn't come out. His door opened.

"What the- What are ya doin'? Get yer lazy but outta bed! This is the one day yer not allowed to sleep in, ya know that!"

Senel sat up slowly. He worked his jaw for a second before he finally found his voice. "I, um... Didn't really sleep, Moses. At all."

Moses crossed his arms. "Yer that nervous, huh?" Senel nodded. "Well, ya don't gotta be. Trust me, it's a scary thought righ' now, but its worth it."

"I know." He swung his legs out from under the covers and went to the large dressing room attached to his bedroom.

Moses went to his nightstand and picked up the picture he kept there. "Ya better hurry, Senel. More than one person's gonna be pretty mad if yer late."

"It's not like its far," came Senel's voice from the dressing room.

Moses couldn't help grinning as he said, "Yeah, but are ya sure ya wanna risk their wrath?"

"Shut up."

Moses chuckled softly to himself and set the picture back down. He went to the window overlooking the orchard in the back. "I'm just sayin'... I mean, yeah its close, but its not _that_ close. It'll still take us a bit to get there."

The door to the dressing room opened. "How do I look?" Senel asked.

Moses nodded. "Ya look good. The tie, though."

"I know." Senel sat on the edge of his bed and adjusted his tie, looking at the framed picture on his nightstand. It was by far his favorite picture. He had had it taken on their first date.

"Seriously, Senel. Shirley's gonna have a fit if yer late."

Senel glanced back at him. "Shirley?"

"Heh." Moses rubbed his neck nervously. "Ya weren't there when I walked in five minutes late to the reception at mine. Bubbles made a joke outta it, and Chloe just raised an eyebrow at me, but I never knew _Shirley_ had so much fire in her, heh heh..."

"Yeah, well..." Senel bent down to retie his shoes. "I think in this case Chloe wouldn't be afraid to decapitate me."

Moses laughed, but then he clapped Senel on the shoulder. "Nah. Ya make 'er too happy for her to do that. She might not be afraid to lock ya out and make ya sleep on the couch tonight, though."

"Oh, thanks," Senel said dryly. "Besides, there's plenty of spare rooms in this place."

"She could lock those rooms too."

Senel rolled his eyes and stood. "Whatever. Let's go."

"Ya. Jay's probably gonna complain for havin' to wait for ya, y'know."

Senel shook his head. "_Both_ of you shouldn't be complaining. It's _my_ wedding, you know."

7. McCoolidge

"We will speak no more of this. I am well liked by King Douglas, and my recent victories have won the praise of all the people."

Instantly, Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Were you drunk, then, when you promised to do this? Has your ambition slept since then, and does it awaken now, scared and afraid at what it was so sure of before? When you promised to do this, that's when you were a man. And if you actually followed through with it, you would be even more of a man."

Senel held up his hands. "Please, calm down! I would gladly do anything worthy of a man. If I did anything more, I wouldn't be human."

Chloe scowled. "What monster was it then, that tempted you into this scheme with me?" She turned away from him. "I used to help stray, injured kittens, and know how tender the moment is when nursing them back to health." She spun around to face him again. "But had I so promised, I would have kicked its food dish away from it and dashed its brain out!"

Senel sighed. "What if we fail?"

"Fail? Build up your courage and we shall not fail! When Douglas is asleep, I'll give his two servants enough wine that they won't be able to remember a thing. Once they fall asleep, nothing will keep us from committing the deed and blaming everything on them."

Senel shook his head. "Bring forth male children only! It's like you yourself are male-" When his wife glared at him, he knew he had caught himself too late. "I mean... 'For thy undaunted mettle should compose only males'?"

...xXx...

King Douglas walked into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Will sighed. "It seems Thane McCoolidge was murdered."

"Yes, I heard everything," Jay said. "It seems Chloe got upset when Senel called her a man. Again."

"Ah. Yes, she would be upset if he made the same mistake after the KawKawMan incident."

Norma sighed. "Resurrection!"

8. Water

Senel's arms were getting tired.

The storm had passed a few days ago, heading south, so he, Stella, and Shirley had decided to go for a swim in the warmth that had replaced it, thankful that Winter here near the equator rarely meant cold weather.

They had been swimming for a while, and even though he knew that the Ferines were the People of the Water, he was still surprised that Stella and Shirley were apparently not tired at all. He wanted to get to be as good as they were at swimming. He had to. Stella had explained the Rite of Feriyen to him a few minutes ago, so he wasn't about to quit and get out of the water now. He would push himself until he was the best swimmer he could possibly be.

"Senel, are you okay?"

Senel smiled. "I'm fine, Shirley."

Stella flashed him a knowing smile. "If you're getting tired, Senel, you can always rest and then get back in later."

Senel shook his head. "It's alright. I'm fine." No, he certainly wasn't gonna quit now.

…xXx...

"They're such good swimmers..."

Rolan smiled. "Well, of course. Tadpoles have to be good swimmers or they won't survive."

Chloe frowned thoughtfully. "I wish I could swim like them..."

Rolan chuckled softly. "Well, then. I'll just have to teach you, won't I?"

Her face lit up. "You will? Really, Father?"

Her father pulled her into a hug. "Of course. It wouldn't do for a worthy knight of the House of Valens to be without the knowledge of swimming, now would it? Knowing how to swim could even save your life some day."

Chloe returned his embrace and looked up at him. "Will you teach me tomorrow?"

Rolan looked up at the sky. "It's supposed to rain... But I'll tell you what. If the rain's cleared up by then, then yes, I'll teach you tomorrow."

"There you two are!"

They both turned to see Chloe's mother looking at both of them, hands on her hips. "You do realize that Lord Macduff's party starts in less than two hours, right?"

Rolan stood, patting the dirt off his hands. "Ah, yes. I suppose it does. And all three of us are just thrilled to be going, aren't we?"

"I'm not," Chloe said, frowning once again.

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "You're father was being sarcastic, honey. In any case, let's hurry. If we're lucky, we can get back home before it starts raining."

Hours later, Chloe sat alone in the carriage, soaked and shivering, trying to convince herself that what had just happened was only a dream and she would awaken safe and in her bed very soon.

She knew, though, that that wasn't true. Just as she knew that her father wouldn't be able to teach her how to swim tomorrow.

9. Jealousy

Senel scowled as he continued to eavesdrop on the conversation taking place in the other room. Just hearing the guy's voice was enough to set him on edge, and it hadn't been long before he found himself grinding his teeth.

He heard the jerk sigh. "Senel, you might as well come inside."

Senel started. How had the guy known he was there? Oh well, no point in running away.

He stood up and walked into the room, slightly surprised to see that the guy had been talking to Norma.

"How did you know I was there?" he asked coldly.

Kratos sighed. "I've said it several times that I have enhanced senses."

Oh. Right.

"Hey, Senny, what's up? You look upset."

Senel scowled. "Of course I am. I don't know how you can put up with this guy, Norma."

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "I'm certain I'm not the most terrible person you've ever met."

"Yeah, you kinda are. You're a self-important jerk with a superior attitude who thinks he knows everything and tries to tell all of us how to fight."

Kratos crossed his arms. "All I've done is merely point out where you could use some improvement. Surely someone who relies on their own fighting abilities for their very survival can appreciate that?"

Senel's scowl deepened. "Yeah, well you don't have to be such a jerk about it."

Kratos forwned slightly. "I don't believe I've ever been disagreeable with you, Senel."

"It's not me I'm talking about. You're always pointing out Chloe's mistakes, but you know what? She's a far better swordsman than you'll ever be!"

Norma laughed. "I knew you were upset about this, Senny!"

Kratos sighed.

Senel's eyes narrowed and he turned to Norma. "What do you mean?"

"Stone-face, here, was just asking me if I could get C to stop liking him somehow."

"I find the thought disturbing," Kratos said.

"Yeah, and I told him she only took an interest in him because she thinks _you_ are still in love with Shirl."

"But I never was! And why would she care so much about that anyway?"

Norma sighed. "Because she likes you, genius. Anyway, I'd advise you to go and tell her you return her feelings soon. I have a feeling she would like that very much, which would make everyone happy."

"Very," Kratos said flatly.

Senel shook his head. "Wait a minute. Since when did Chloe like me?"

10. Talking

None of them remembered how it started, and none of them cared. Not really.

"Y'know, C, we shoulda done this a loooong time ago..." Norma swayed slightly in her chair.

Chloe shook her head slightly, having already given up on trying to clear her brain. "For once, I agree, Norma. Now I can understand why Senel likes this stuff so much. I mean, I've had some before, but not this much all at once... I always thought it was a bad idea to have too much at once but now I see just why people like to drink so much of it and all the other stuff helps as well, although I thought about half of it was banned for some reason or another, but I guess I can't complain if-"

"C..." Norma collapsed forward, onto the littered table. "You're ramblingg again..."

"Oh, sorry..."

The pile of wrappers next to the tale started to move. Something underneath it started to sob.

"What's wrong, Shirl?"

Shirley sat up, causing an avalanche of wrappers. "I'm such a horrible friend!"

Chloe blinked blearily. "What're you talking about?"

Shirley reached for one of the many small cups on the table and downed the contents. "About... Senel... I was so jealous for the longest time...!" She broke down into renewed sobs.

Chloe chuckled. "Is that all?" Her chuckles turned into uncontrollable giggles, eventually eveolving into full blown laughter.

"Man, be quiet, you two!" Norma shouted over the sobbing and laughter.

"Yeah, C," Shirley said between sobs, "why is it so funny?"

"It's funny cuz," Chloe forced her laughter down, "I never used to think there would be anything between Senel and me, and now..." Her giggles flared up again before she regained control of them. "Now you're apologiing to me for being jealous? It's just too ironic!" She threw her hands up in the air, laughing again, and almost fell over backwards before she managed to catch the table and steady herself.

"So," Shirley sniffed, "you're not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm just glad you didn't try to kill me in my sleep!" Chloe started to laugh, but then froze when she realized what she had said and that Shirley was silent.

Shirley blinked before starting to laugh. "Yeah, I probably would have tried to kill you if I was the same person I used to be!" They both broke into laughter at that.

Norma groaned, covering her ears with her hands. "Man, you two are so loud!"

...xXx...

"I don't think you have to worry too much, Senel," Jay said, picking up a wrapper and a cup.

Senel frowned, still worried. "Are you sure?"

Jay sighed. "The culprit was caffiene mixed with a sugar high. These are candy wrappers and paper espresso cups. Not drugs and shot glasses."

...xXx...

Xonel: First and foremost, 7 was based off of Shakespeare's Macbeth, so bonus points to anyone who caught that!

I have to say, I really enjoyed writing the scenes showing the process Chloe goes through to forgive Alcott. I think it's natural for humans to take a long time to forgive someone who has wronged them so badly, so I've always imagined that actually and truly forgiving Alcott wouldn't actually happen until a few years after the game ends. After coming up with the characters Damon and Estelle, and then wondering what would happen if one of them (in this case, Estelle) were to be kidnapped, it just seemed like that would be the time when Chloe would fully realize where Alcott was coming from when he killed her parents.

I think #8 tied in pretty well with it as well, although for more... literary impact, I guess you would call it, it probably would have been better to have both of them in seperate chapters. Anyway, I think her father's line about swimming tied in with the game itself pretty well. I didn't even realize until after I had written it that that one single line would explain why she's so upset at her lack of swimming ability in the game.

Anyway, enough of me trying to sound scholarly and failing, lol. I think in general this series is becoming a way for me to sort out my own version of their universe in my head... Which means that some of what happens in this series could happen in my other stuff. For instance, some version of 10 might show up later in HVWI. I just find the idea of the three of them acting drunk extremely amusing. Especially with Shirley feeling bad for not feeling happy for Chloe and Senel. Speaking of which, the song that inspired 10 was a Celtic piece called "Three Young Ladies Drinking Whiskey Before Breakfast".

Which reminds me I need to put up the promised playlist:

Houkiboshi, by Ryoko Inagaki (from Bleach)

Easy to Ignore, by Sixpence None the Richer

Kiss the Girl (from The Little Mermaid)

The Council of Elrond, featuring Enya (From The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)

Kiss Me, by Sixpence None the Richer

Wedding Announcement (from The Little Mermaid)

Because the Night, by 10,000 Maniacs

Walk With Me, by Neil Young

Night Diving, by Thrice

Why Worry, by Dire Straits

Trouble Me, by 10,000 Maniacs

Shine, by L'Arc-en-Ciel

With You, by Lita Harvey (from Phantasy Star Universe)

My Tales, by Donna Burke and Gab Desmond (we all know this one)

I'd love to go over why I chose all of these, but I've already been ranting a lot. I'll let you guys think about it first, and if anyone wants me to say why I chose them, I will.

Oh, and for those of you who have read "Internet"... Let's just say that Chloe may get her revenge soon. If you want to know more details, message me and I'll be happy to share my plans. Just be glad it's only 14 songs, and not about 90 like I originally had, lol.

And with that, I bid you adieu. Thanks for reading (especially if you've read all my ranting), and as always reviews keep me motivated!


	6. Chapter 6

Xonel: Some good stuff in here. And some not-so-good stuff in my opinion. But, you guys are the judges, not me.

Also, I want to thank everyone who's read my latest chapter of How Valens Went Insane. It was one of the few times where I actually really liked what I had written, so it was nice to get some positive feedback and know that I actually HAD written something at least halfway decent, instead of just thinking I had.

Anyway, I do not own Tales of Legendia. Here's the list of prompts:

1. The story must involve a carpet in it.

2. During the story, a character gets dirty.

3. The story must involve a cape in it.

4. A character will take a bath.

5. The story must have a water-spirit involved in the middle.

6. During the story, there is a sudden change in weather.

7. The story takes place in mid-fall.

8. The story starts during a workday.

9. During the story, a character makes a meal for themselves.

10. The story is set during a party.

1. Disbelief

Senel continued to pace. "Are you sure?" He stopped abruptly. "I think it really should be closer to the window."

Chloe pulled the carpet over to where Senel was pointing. "You would have to_ try_ to not be sure these days, Senel. I'm certain."

Senel paused, examining the new arrangement. He shook his head. "Nah, I think maybe you were right before. It's better by the door." Chloe paused, examining the room, then nodded and moved the carpet back. "Still, I mean..." Senel shook his head, running a hand over his face. "You're positive?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes, Senel. I'm positive."

"Then shouldn't I be the one moving that?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow, an amused smile playing on her lips. "That might be nice."

"It still doesn't look right," Senel muttered, shaking his head. He met Chloe's eyes briefly before moving to adjust the carpet yet again. "You're positive, but you're not scared at all?"

"It might be better by the fireplace. Are_ you_ scared?"

"Well, yeah!"

Chloe laughed once. "You didn't see me when I first found out. I nearly fainted on Nicole."

Senel halted midway across the room and looked up at her. "You? Faint? I don't think so." He continued to drag the carpet toward the fireplace.

Chloe sat down in one of the plush chairs, exhaustion suddenly catching up with her. "Well, I almost did. Nicole said, and I quote, 'You were almost as pale as Jay when you told me, Chloe'."

Senel chuckled, giving the carpet a final tug and looking at it. "As pale as Jay? That _is_ pretty bad, I guess."

Chloe stood just a moment to retrieve her glass from across the room. She took a swallow and grimaced slightly. Oh right. No chilled wine for her, now. "You know, I should make you suffer with me. No wine for you either."

Senel couldn't help but chuckle. "What did _I_ do?"

"What did you do? This is all _your_ fault, Senel."

Senel crossed his arms, amused. "Oh really? _My_ fault, huh?" Chloe nodded. "And I suppose you had absolutely no say in it at all."

"Of course not."

"I get it. I'm supposed to be the one to make sure things don't get to this point, right?"

"That's right. Haven't you read the Song of Songs?"

Senel raised an eyebrow, chuckling. He had to admit, he liked this playful side of Chloe. "I thought I wasn't allowed to because it was too suggestive and even an idiot like me might get what it was talking about."

"First of all, I never called you an idiot, I said you were dense. Second, I don't have to worry about that now." 

"Oh?"

Chloe nodded. "It's simple. We're already married and divorce is frowned upon in Gadoria, not to mention it'll earn you a smack or three on the head from Raynard. And even if you _did_ try to chase after someone else, with my House restored it would be easy to force you into paying me child support- you know, because I obviously need it," Chloe waved her arm, indicating the "small" bedroom, complete with its own bathroom and dressing room.

Senel shook his head and took a seat next to her. "You know, I'm glad I'm not that kind of man, then."

Chloe's amusement melted into fondness. "I am too."

Senel sighed, looking over the room again. "You know, maybe we should wait until the crib is put in to figure out where the carpet should go."

2. Worthy

Air. She needed air. Her chest hurt. The blood pounded in her ears. And there was the wheezing. Always the wheezing...

She stopped walking and collapsed face-down in the mud. She didn't care that she would hear an earful when she got home. She would not give up her training. She would push herself, as she always had.

No. She would push herself even more. She had run for, what? Maybe thirty minutes? Pathetic.

Hot tears of frustration mixed with the rainwater running down her face. Her breathing wasn't getting better for some reason. Usually it did, but... Not now... For some reason, she was calm. Perhaps she would die here in the rain, face-down in the mud... She was tired of failing. What would it matter if she never arose from the wet earth?

"That is an exceptionally selfish thought, child."

Her head was pounding, her wheezes were loud to her ears, and her vision was starting to dim. She thought she could make out a glowing, winged figure. An angel?

"You are weak, child. You push yourself too far. I shall help you."

Why? She wanted to ask, but she didn't have the strength, and her eyes were starting to slide shut.

"It is because I have found you to be worthy." The voice began to fade from her hearing. "I sense that your future may very well be tied to my own, as well as those of the others..."

...xXx...

She could breath. That was the first thing she noticed upon waking up. The second thing she noticed was her teacher. For once, she felt sheepish.

"I'm glad you're awake. Your father commanded your brother to stay by your side, and he hasn't stirred since." Will's expression turned stern. "You know your body can't take that kind of physical exertion, Estelle."

Estelle swallowed. She had spent years hiding her weakness, but she still wanted to push herself. She still wanted to one day be able to ignore her weakness altogether, and have it not be a hindrance at all. But even she knew that going for a run, in the rain, when she was already feeling a bit strained, was a bad idea. She turned her head to see her brother sitting in one of Will's chairs, his head tilted back against the chair, snoring. She shifted her gaze to her hands. "I'm sorry, Mr. Raynard."

Will nodded. "I appreciate it, but I'm really not the one you should apologize to. You're parents went to see Arnold Alcott. You were so bad when they first saw you that they feared for your life. They thought Arnold might have something that would save you."

Estelle nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. Will turned to leave, then paused in the doorway.

"Your crystal eres is the fastest-developing I've ever witnessed. You know that, don't you?"

Estelle frowned. He didn't sound like he was trying to convince her that she had nothing to prove. Everyone was always telling her to go easier on herself, but not this time. This time, Will seemed thoughtful, almost... intrigued. "Yes..." she answered, her voice trailing.

"I heard a sharp knock, and then found you on my doorstep. But I could swear I saw something in the sky, flying away from my house..." He met her gaze, his expression unreadable. "It looked like the Summon Spirit, Rem."

"What does that mean?" Estelle asked simply.

Will shook his head. "I don't know."

He left.

3. Ready

Damon reached out his hand, fingertips meeting with their reflection in the mirror.

He wasn't a prodigy like his sister, but he was a skilled iron eren in his own right. His mother would always tell him that in some way, he was far better than she herself was at his age. When he asked her why, she gave an ambiguous answer, saying that he had the right motivation for what he was doing.

Well, nomatter what anyone said, he still felt uncertain. Was he truly ready for this? Was he truly ready for the responsibility that came with it?

Was he ready to wear his House colors not just as a noble, but as a knight?

He noticed movement behind him and met Estelle's gaze reflected in the mirror. She was leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed. Yet, something about her was different. He thought maybe she was uncomfortable for some reason, but that couldn't be true.

There was a long silence, yet it wasn't awkward. Finally, Estelle spoke up.

"It's just a formality, Damey."

Damon blinked, slightly taken aback at her soft tone. He sighed. "I know."He frowned slightly, adjusting the collar of his uniform. "And I know Mom and Dad think I've been ready for almost a year now. Still..."

"You_ are _ready, Damon."

Alright, his sister was officially _not_ normal. Where was her sarcasm? Where was her usual "Damon-reserved" condescending tone of voice? "Am I?" was all he could think to say.

"Of course you are." Estelle smirked. "The only thing I'm worried about is how in the world you plan on getting through your all-nighter in the chapel. You never were a big fan of prayer."

Damon found himself rolling his eyes, feeling more comfortable with his sister making fun of him. Yet he could tell that her jab didn't have its usual venom. "Yeah, well... Apparently I have a harder time than you of believing I'm talking to more than just the ceiling."

Estelle actually let out a brief chuckle at that, but her expression quickly became dark. "I spent time just last night in the chapel... I hate to admit it, but even now I wish our positions had been reversed. I still wish _I _was the one about to be knighted."

Damon's brows knit together. "You would rather be a knight than...?"

Estelle nodded without hesitation. "Yes," she said softly. "I would trade all of that power in the blink of an eye if it would give me the health and eres I need to be a knight. I never wanted a power such as this." Damon said nothing, and Estelle pushed herself off the wall to come and stand next to him. He thought he saw her swallow, and she nodded once before continuing. "I've been absolutely horrible to you these past few years. There's no excuse for that. I-" the strength in her voice faltered and she fell silent. She blinked, then shook her head and walked over to the bed where Damon had carefully laid out his cape. She picked it up and settled it on his shoulders, fitting the shoulder clasps together. "...I am glad that _one_ of us is a knight..."

Damon's expression softened, and he immediately felt compassion for the sister who was just now showing a side of herself which he hadn't seen since she was five years old. "You're the better warrior here. I mean that." Estelle shook her head and opened her mouth to protest. "And more importantly," he continued, "I forgive you." He turned around and hugged her.

Estelle stood rigid, shocked at first. Eventually, she relaxed, and even managed to loosely return the hug. "You're just like Father, you know that?"

Damon released her and gave her an amused look. "And _you_ are far too sarcastic to be anything at all like Mom."

"Despicable," she muttered, scowling. "Now hurry up. You're important enough that His Majesty himself will be there, and I don't think he's someone we should make wait."

4. Clueless

Chloe was upset. She wasn't in a rage, but she was definitely angry. It was all Senel's fault, of course. She wasn't sure how, exactly, but it was.

Okay, so if she was completely honest with herself she was just using him as a scapegoat. Still, he had to play some part in her rather... _unforgettable_ experience sliding down the muddy side of that hill.

"It's just a bath, Chloe. There's no need to be afraid."

Chloe blinked. She hadn't even been aware that she was staring at the metal tub, steam rising from it steadily. Her momentary confusion immediately turned to annoyance. "I'm not afraid! I may not like water but I'm not about to disregard personal hygiene entirely."

"Oh. Well then what's the problem? Just get in."

Chloe smacked her forehead. Was he really that clueless? "We're not even engaged yet, Senel."

"What does that have to do with-"

"Get out of the room!"

5. Overlooked

It was a strange thing, to be a god. Well, not _really_ a god, not like the Ferines seemed to believe.

No, Nerifes was not omniscient. In fact, Nerifes was still feeling rather strange. There was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling, being split into two parts, one raging, the other quiet. Nerifes could feel both parts, fully and completely. Even for a powerful spirit, seeing out of two sets of eyes, feeling from two different bodies, and constantly being in a rage and... _not_ in a rage was disorienting enough to cause some pretty severe nausea.

Thankfully, by the time anything at all actually _mattered,_ Nerifes had mastered focusing on only _one_ self at a time. And thankfully, it was focusing on its quiet self when that obnoxious woman with the horns declared, "There's a reason this place is called The Waterways!"

Nerifes had been keeping tabs on this little band of not-so-merry men and women. After all, the Marinade or whatever the Ferines called her was traveling with them. Nerifes just preferred to call her "The Chosen One", but apparently the village leaders never got the memo. Even after thousands of years.

But, as much as Nerifes tried to keep from directly influencing mankind, there was one very important fact that could _not_ be overlooked. Shirley would be miserable with Senel. Without a doubt, Senel would eventually be miserable with Shirley. Not as brother and sister, but in a romantic way they were doomed. Nerifes could clearly envision what their lives would look like five years down the road, and it was _not_ pretty. It involved fake smiles, lots of air-freshener, and mutant cockroaches.

Now it wasn't that Nerifes was a prude. Absolutely not. In fact, Nerifes was a real softy at heart. Nerifes would often travel in phantasmal, ghostly form and read pirate romance novels over the shoulders of the Gadorian youth. In fact, Nerifes would sometimes go to the writers of the books themselves and whisper plot suggestions in their ears. No one would ever suspect that Claudio was the creation of the spirit of the ocean.

In other words, Nerifes was old enough, wise enough, and sappy enough to know exactly the type of man who would make the Marinade happy, and it was not the noble pirate type, like Claudio. And Senel was almost exactly like Claudio, except he was a marine, not a pirate. No, Shirley would be more happy with a Jacques man. The depressed scholar with an attitude, punk-type guy. Shirley would think a guy like that was "dark and mysterious".

No, a Claudio, like Senel, was meant to be with a different kind of woman. A woman who, maybe, denied any tender feelings when they first arose. A woman who would even convince herself that he was just a despicable pirate, not worthy of a even a _scullery maid's_ graces. A woman who would call him out on every single mistake or dastardly thing that he did. A woman who, unknowingly, had fallen for him. _Hard_. Despite her protests. A woman who would eventually see that yes, he could be a jerk, but that jerk arose to do a big softy's bidding. A woman who realized, somewhat ashamedly, that she was just as bad as this "jerk" in every way. A woman who would finally admit to herself that she was head-over-heels, _hopelessly_ in love. A woman who would hate that fact, and feel the knife twisting inside her gut every time she saw her dear Claudio smiling with that other woman who was so much better for him than she herself could ever be.

In other words, Senel needed a brilliant ninny to compliment his own dense cookie-cutter heroism. Senel needed a woman like Chloe Valens.

All of this passed through Nerifes' mind in a rush as the horned-lady's lackey pulled the lever, releasing a raging torrent (no pun intended) of water toward the Marinade's friends. And Nerifes squealed with delight as the most epic of opportunities arose. The only thing required was the right timing.

The scene played out just like it was _To Love A Pirate _come to life. The normally brave and valiant Chloe Valens began to sink under the rushing blue waters, having hidden her inability to swim. She started to flail, knowing panic for the first time in many long years. She reached her hand up into the air, breaking the surface of the waves, but her lungs were screaming for oxygen. Then, miraculously, she heard someone shout her name, and was able to utter a single "Help!" before salty water closed off her plea. Her vision started to fade, just as she felt someone grab her hand.

It was Senel, of course. He wrapped his arms around her, letting the current carry them, and struggled to get her head above the water.

They were, in a sense, embracing. In the water. In _sea_water. So Nerifes' power was surrounding them. Nerifes concentrated said power very subtly, causing the water around them to glow brightly. Unmistakably.

Unfortunately, Senel's brain somehow dismissed the event as just a trick his mind was playing on him. By the time they washed up on the shore all the way at the bottom of the ruin, he had forgotten the incident altogether, and it never occurred to him that the glowing water could possibly be Nerifes giving him and the girl who currently hated his guts a blessing.

6. Training

"Hyah! Kah! Tah! Light Spear!"

Chloe couldn't help but grin proudly, backing away from her son's attack. Damon truly was a master swordsman. Already an official Knight of Gadoria for two years, he was developing his own unique style of swordplay.

Chloe raised her sword slightly and lunged forward. "Gambit!"

Damon sidestepped, parrying at the same time to give himself more room. He backed up a couple of steps, keeping perfect form.

"You can't keep retreating all the time, Damon." Chloe rushed in with a series of normal attacks.

Damon blocked each one. "I can't fight my own mother without holding back."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She sped up her attacks, then feinted. Damon fell for it and she quickly disarmed him. "You're a good swordsman, Damon. But you'll need to give it your all if you want to beat me."

Damon smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck- a habit he picked up from their father.

He picked up his practice sword and asked, "How has Estelle been doing with her training? We've both been so busy lately I haven't been able to ask her."

Chloe started to walk back toward the manor alongside her son. "Will says she's doing very well. He tells me it won't be long before she masters all of the crystal eres he knows."

Damon nodded. "What about her training with Dad?" he asked softly.

"She's been doing very well with that too," Chloe answered just as softly. "Of course, your dad doesn't want to go too hard on her, and I don't blame him. I think she's still frustrated that she can't learn his style of fighting as quickly as she wants too, especially since she doesn't have the eres to help her with it. But I think she finally understands why she needs to take her time with it."

Damon nodded.

The two of them left their practice swords in the armory, then went to their separate rooms to get ready for dinner. After Chloe was finished washing up and dressing, a knock came to her door.

"Come in," Chloe called, giving her hair one final run through with a brush.

"Chloe. Senel, Damon, and Estelle are waiting for you on the main balcony." Nicole paused. "It's snowing outside."

Chloe started. "What? It's not supposed to be Winter for several more weeks! Besides, it never snows in Gadoria."

Nicole pursed her lips and shook her head. "Forgive me for appearing senile before my time, but my bones tell me there's a strangeness in the air... Chloe, I believe something important is happening."

Chloe blinked, shaking her head slightly, then set down the brush and hurried to the balcony.

Her family was gathered before her, all staring up at the sky. It was a very light sprinkling, but sure enough, white flakes of snow drifted down from the grey skies.

"I don't get it," Senel said. "I haven't been in Gadoria as long as you Chloe, but I've still never seen _snow_ here."

"Nor have I, Senel," she answered.

Estelle let out a breath. "Something's coming. Something bad. It may already be here."

7. Showers

He had been called dense before, and this was probably true in some respects. However, Senel was by no means stupid. He knew why she was up here, the woman he had asked just a few days ago to marry him. He knew it still hurt. And he understood why she made herself sit here, watching the light sprinkling of rain fall from the sky. He couldn't explain it if he was asked to. By all logic, it didn't make sense that his fiance would subject herself to a pain long-remembered. A pain that she had tried to forget and bury.

He understood that it still hurt. In a way, he understood a little of _why_ it still hurt. What he didn't understand was his complete inability to ease that pain. He had tried so many times, truly wishing that she could enjoy the rain as he himself did. He suspected she did sometimes. But he knew that she would slip back into these brooding moods, welcoming the rain as an old acquaintance. Not a friend, but not quite an enemy either. More of a force- a force that had taken something precious from her, yet didn't mean to cause her pain.

He knelt down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, and draping his heavy oiled cloak over the both of them.

She looked up at him, offering a sad smile. She leaned into him, enjoying his warmth, although even by Gadorian standards it wasn't that cold.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Senel. I should be happy, but even now I can't get it off my mind."

"It's alright," Senel said, squeezing her shoulders. "The anniversary of that day was only a little while ago. I understand that this is a difficult time of year for you."

"I don't want it to be. I know they wouldn't want it to be, either. They would want me to be happy with the man who just asked me to marry him."

Senel rested his chin on her head, taking in the scent of her hair mixing with the scent of the rain. "Norma will force you to be happy."

Chloe chuckled at that and Senel felt pride swell in his chest at the fact that he was able to lighten her mood, even just a little. "I suspect she will," Chloe said. Then, more softly, "She can't possibly make me as happy as you have, though."

"Well, like I said. I know how hard this time of the year is for you."

"Mm."

They sat together in silence for a while, out in the rain on the main balcony of Valens Manor. Rain was a common occurrence in Gadoria, during the Fall.

Chloe shifted, then reached up and pressed her lips to Senel's own in a tender kiss, tracing the line of his jaw with her thumb. When she broke away, she said, "You know all those times I've called you dense, despicable, worthless, and a coward?"

Senel smiled slightly in an expression between amusement and mock-indignation. "Yeah."

"I take them all back."

8. Protective

Senel took a sip from his mug as he shifted the stack of reports on his desk, now down to the last one that had come in for the day. Things had been unbelievably slow lately. Mostly the reports were documents on how much grain was left in the province, reports on taxes, and various other boring things like that. But, having officially become "Lord Coolidge" twenty-something years ago- almost thirty, now that he thought about it- it was expected of him to make sure that everything was in order in the Southern Province- the province looked over by the House of Valens.

He sighed and took another sip. He had often said that if it wasn't for the great Gadorian invention of coffee, he would never get all his work done. He still thought that was true. He turned the page over, and was happily surprised to see that this particular report was only a single page long.

Senel smiled and stretched, then checked the clock, put the reports away, and went to the private quarters he shared with his wife. He wasn't surprised to see her waiting for him.

"Well?" she asked, holding out her arms.

Senel smirked. "You look every inch the intimidating High Lady of the House of Valens." He went to his dresser and started changing into his own High Lord nobleman suit.

"Good. I'm not about to let Mister Tulan off easily."

Senel chuckled. "You gotta cut him some slack, Chloe. He's a good guy."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "This coming from the man who wanted to punch out Estelle's last interest."

Senel shrugged. "I'm a father, that's what I do."

Chloe put her hands on her hips. "And I'm a mother."

Senel nodded. "Right. You're supposed to use subtler methods, like poison. Anyway, Jaden's a good guy."

Chloe sniffed and made a show of smoothing her skirts. "I suppose he_ is _better than Lord Bryce Flint."

"_Anyone's_ better than Bryce."

"True." Chloe glanced at the clock as Senel finished dressing. "We need to get going. I'm sure he's already sweating."

"Yep, I'm sure he is. How do I look?"

Chloe crossed the distance between them and adjusted the collar of his coat. "Perfect." She smiled wickedly. "Like a man who could send unworthy punks to the guillotine."

Senel mirrored her smile, kissed her briefly, and offered his arm. They went downstairs to the Sunlit Hall, the largest and most intimidating audience chamber of Valens Manor. It was usually reserved for meeting only with royalty, but they decided to utilize the room for this special occasion as well.

Senel smirked. He knew exactly why Jaden wanted to meet with them, even if Jaden didn't know that he knew. He meant what he said when he called Jaden a good man. He was a man that Senel approved of in every way, as he knew Chloe did. But, parental over-protectiveness and a baser desire to mess with the guy led both himself and his wife to be as cruel as they possibly could. After all, if Jaden could survive this trial without backing down, then he truly was worthy.

They came to the doors of the Sunlit Hall and Senel glanced at his wife. She nodded, and they both assumed their coldest, stoniest expressions available. Senel nodded to Thomas.

Thomas clapped his hands and two servants opened the large double doors.

"High Lord Senel Coolidge of the House of Valens: the Fist of Gadoria, and High Lady Chloe Valens, of the House of Valens: knight of Gadoria," Thomas announced in a clear voice.

Senel led Chloe to the two gilded chairs toward the end of the hall, walking past the nervous young man waiting to speak with them, without so much as giving him a glance. They both sat down gracefully, tall and regal.

"You wanted to speak with us, Sir Jaden Tulan?" Senel asked.

Jaden gulped. "Y-Yessir." He fell silent.

The silence stretched until Chloe spoke up. "Well? What is it you wanted to address?"

Jaden closed his eyes, nodded to himself, and then met their gazes. He squared his shoulders. "It concerns your daughter, Lady Valens."

Senel narrowed his eyes. "Our daughter?" he asked. "I would advise you to be very careful about what you say, Sir Tulan."

Jaden met his eyes. "With all do respect, Lord Coolidge, I humbly ask to take your daughter's hand in marriage." He bowed his head. "I would have your blessing, if I may." He kept his head bowed, and this time sank to his knee, pressing his fists to the ground in a respectful kneel.

Senel exchanged surprised glances with his wife. The hall was filled with silence as they both thought the same thing: _He really __**is**__ a worthy man if he's bowing to us like we're royalty. _Several moments passed as they both struggled to wrap their minds around the sheer seriousness this man was displaying to them in asking them such a question (not that they would have it any other way), but eventually they couldn't handle it any more. They had known that such a question was coming, and in all honesty they liked Jaden and saw him as a welcome addition to the family. Senel felt his own expression cracking first, and soon he and his wife couldn't contain it any more. They burst out laughing.

Jaden looked up, confused. He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again.

Senel stood up, Chloe following his lead, and walked toward Jaden. "Stand up, Jaden. You don't need to be so formal."

Jaden stood slowly, shaking his head as he tried to make sense of the situation.

Chloe smiled. "We've been expecting you to ask this for a while, now. I'm sorry, but we couldn't resist making this as uncomfortable for you as humanly possible."

Senel clapped him on the shoulder. "And you handled it better than either of us thought was possible. Just thinking about if I had had to face Chloe's parents like this sends shivers down my spine."

Jaden shook his head. "Wait a minute. So... I mean... Huh?"

Senel chuckled. "You have my blessing, Jaden."

"And mine as well," Chloe added. Senel opened his mouth to add something of his own, but Chloe beat him to it, "But if you _ever_ harm Estelle in _any_ way, you'll know what its like to taste my blade."

"And her blade doesn't taste like honey," Senel said, still smiling. "Believe me."

Jaden shook his head again. "Thank you. Very much. And I don't mean to be disrespectful, so please don't take this the wrong way, but... You two are... odd..."

Both of them laughed at that. "Once the first grey hair appears, you realize that you have to be able to make a joke out of everything if you want to live a happy life," Chloe said. "Some annoying friends of ours beat that into our skulls a while ago."

Senel chuckled. "In other words, Jaden, yes. We're odd."

9. Rotund

Chloe stared at the small oven in front of her. "My old acquaintance," she murmured. "The one who refuses to be helpful, no matter what I'm facing."

She wasn't a terrible cook, like Harriet. She could follow instructions and most of what she made was more than edible (aside from that one time she tried to make lasagna and the tomatoes caught on fire, but that was a completely isolated incident). Usually the food she made was pretty good. But it was simple, and usually either involved noddles or broth. Why? Because they were the easiest things to make. She knew how to put flavor together, she just didn't know how to actually cook anything outside of soup and pasta.

Well, that was going to change today. She was hungrier than she ever thought possible, and she was having the weirdest craving for a nice juicy hamburger with basil-brie cheese and peanut butter. She might even sprinkle some chalk dust on it. She had no idea why, but that's what she wanted. Forget those small, unsatisfying healthy burgers. She wanted _meat._

"Well, C, are you gonna stare at it all day, or are you gonna light it?"

Chloe blinked. "Oh, right." She lit a match and started to kneel before stopping herself. _Dang. _She really couldn't do anything could she? She glanced at Norma, who was smiling with barely-contained laughter. "Shut up." She handed her the match to light the fire in the oven and stood up straight again. "You know this is all Senel's fault."

"Blaming your snookums again?"

Chloe felt her cheeks go red. "I do _not_ call him that, Norma! How many times do I have to tell you I don't call him by any of the ultra-cheesy nicknames you and Moses are so fond of?"

Norma stood back up and blew out the match. "I'm gonna find out sooner or later what you two call eachother in private. You've gotta have _some_ nicknames for eachother."

Chloe shook her head as she took out the hamburger meat from the refrigerator. "Whatever." She set the meat down.

"Ah ha! So you don't deny that you two have mushy nicknames for eachother?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and mumbled. "They are _not_ mushy."

"Whatever you say, C." Norma glanced at the stove. "Hey, are you sure you want to try _baking_ the meat? In case you didn't know, most people _grill _hamburgers."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "When _you're_ six months pregnant I won't criticize you for any extremely particular, abnormal cravings you get. Don't criticize _me_ for the ones I'm getting now."

"Alright, C, sheesh. Man, and I thought you had your whiny moments before."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!"

It took a moment for Chloe to realize she was very nearly growling like a bear. _Growling like a bear? Is this how mother Eggbears feel all the time?_ For some reason she found the thought extraordinarily funny and started to giggle.

Norma put a glob of meat into the oven and gave her a look. "Alright, at the risk of being mauled-" this made Chloe laugh harder- "I gotta say that you are just acting downright _weird,_ C. And I mean more than usual."

Chloe continued to laugh, at the same time clenching her fists in utter frustration. "I can't wait for this kid to be born! Do you have _any_ idea what its like to be pregnant for _six months?"_

Norma took a step back, raising her hands defensively. "Can't say that I do. I take it its horrible?"

"Yes! And brilliant at the same time!"

"What if you and Senny decide you want a second one?"

Chloe responded with an especially hysterical-sounding laugh.

10. Mushy

Senel took a sip from his champagne glass, going over what Moses had told him just a few minutes ago. _Ya should try callin' her by some special name. I know Bubbles' face lights up ev'ry time Ah call 'er that._ With a nudge he added, _And Ah've picked out a couple __**more**__ nicknames that she just loves._

_You mean like "Foofiekins"? I thought you two were using those mushy names just to make the rest of us gag._

Moses had grinned. _Nah, that was just a perk._

Senel sighed to himself, looking at Chloe from across the hall. She was talking to Norma, no doubt telling her how happy she was for her and Moses.

Senel had to agree, they were meant for eachother.

More and more, he was becoming convinced that he and Chloe were meant for eachother, too. Yes, they already knew they liked eachother. They were still "in love" in the sense that everything was exciting and life itself was more vibrant when they were around eachother. But things had felt that way when he still had Stella, and they had even felt that way for that short period of time when he had thought that maybe his love for Shirley was romantic in nature, instead of just a close bond like brother and sister.

So yes, he and Chloe were "in love", but that wasn't enough. He had to know that the two of them could stand to live with eachother for the rest of their lives. He had to know that their excited puppy-love would turn into real, life-long_ true_ love. He had to know that he and Chloe were meant to be together.

And he was being convinced more and more each day that that was the case. He had already asked Will if such a thing seemed likely, and the researcher had replied that given the growth in their relationship, yes it did seem likely. He had asked Moses as well, who replied with a "Yeehaw!" and "Are you kiddin'? O' course you two are meant for eachother!"

And now, Moses had told him that he should try nicknames to "strengthen" their relationship. Senel had thought about it before, but he had always thought the nicknames he came up with were boring and unoriginal, so he didn't pursue it. But now, when they were at their respective best-friends' wedding, surrounded by hundreds of people in a happy environment, it couldn't hurt to try, right?

Senel nodded to himself. Right. But he at least wouldn't risk embarrassing her where they might be overheard.

He set his empty champagne glass down on a side-table and walked across the room, weaving his way through the crowd of people, toward where Chloe was still talking with Norma against the far wall.

As soon as he was in range, he pulled her into a one-armed hug and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. He felt his chest swell when she smiled, a prominent blush on her cheeks. She had told him before that she liked being surprised like that. _Yeah, we're definitely in love._

Norma raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Man, would you just propose already, Senny? We all know its gonna happen sooner or later and you've already made poor C wait for your sorry butt to notice her in the first place. You don't want _JJ_ to get married before you do too, do you?"

"Norma..." Chloe's threat was obviously half-hearted.

Norma shrugged. "I'm just saying..."

Senel shook his head. "Anyway, congratulations, Norma. I hope you and Moses are happy together."

Norma raised her glass. "Already are, Senny."

"Mind if I take Chloe away for a little while?"

Norma's features slid into her trademark sly grin. "Be my guest, Senny. I didn't know you'd take my advice so soon."

"Norma!" Senel glanced at Chloe and noted that her face was beet red.

Norma's grin broadened. "No need to get offended, C. Anyway, you two have fun! I better see you guys on the dance floor later."

Senel shook his head and led Chloe outside to the open, grassy area behind the reception hall. It was night, and a faint breeze carried the scent of sea salt toward them. Senel went to the railing at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the ocean, and leaned against it on his arms. Chloe followed and leaned against him.

Senel let a moment pass, enjoying Chloe's presence and the familiar feel of the ocean breeze against his face. Soon, though, he knew he had to speak. He actually didn't feel as nervous as he thought he would.

"So, Beautiful..." He let his voice trail away.

Chloe remained silent.

He felt a sudden stab of panic and looked down to judge her reaction. He was just a little surprised that her eyes were widened, but they held to malice.

She looked up at him. "'Beautiful'? Moses talked you into that, didn't he?"

Senel chuckled softly. "Yeah. Sorry. He said I should come up with some nicknames for you. I know what you're thinking; 'Never take advice from Moses'."

Chloe surprised him by shaking her head. She remained quiet for a moment before saying softly, "Well?"

Senel glanced at her. "Huh?"

"What other nicknames have you come up with?"

Senel grinned. If she was willing to accept some of them, he had to try some of the more ridiculous ones he had come up with. "Fufucuddlypoops?"

Chloe's eyes snapped to his in a glare. "No."

Senel raised his hands defensively. "That one was a joke."

"Good." Chloe's gaze returned to the water in front of them.

Despite her response, Senel couldn't pass up another one he knew she would reject. "My knight in shining spandex?"

He expected another glare, or even a slap to the face for that one, but Chloe surprised him by laughing. "I have to admit, that's pretty creative for you."

Senel frowned indignantly. "Hey, I can be creative when I want to be."

"Uh huh, and Jay's a treehugger."

"Alright then, what about 'Pookie'?"

Chloe continued to laugh. "That's been done before, Senel. And no, I refuse to be called 'Pookie'."

Despite himself, Senel found that he was starting to laugh too. "Alright, then. Muffin."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying something?" she said between laughs.

"Cutie?"

"That one's pretty old too, Senel."

"Alright, you know I have to come up with the sappiest name possible now, right?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow, still grinning. "Sappy doesn't equate to being creative, Senel."

"Oh, but doesn't it, Schnooglewookumpooh?"

"Not really, Smoochiewuddlecakes."

"Moogliepums."

"Gooblepoochie."

"Wuddledoodlepoo."

"Foofiecuddlemush."

Senel laughed and shook his head. "I think we've been around Moses and Norma too long."

Chloe smiled. "Indeed."

Senel let out a breath. "You didn't object to 'Beautiful'."

Chloe leaned her head against him. Somehow, he knew her cheeks were turning red again. "I can't really complain when I always used to wish you would call me _that_ instead of 'strong'."

Senel laughed at that, but quickly fell quiet again, two more names dancing around in his skull. Both were equally risky to suggest; one because he really was dragging things out and it would be a huge admission on his part, the other because Chloe could justifiably get offended, especially if she heard his reasoning.

He decided to risk getting attacked first. "Kitten?"

Chloe was silent for a long moment. "Might I ask why?"

_Alright, Senel. State the good reasons first. _"Because you're regal like a cat. Also quick and yes, powerful. You're lithe... sleek. You can be playful... and you can be territorial." He took a deep breath. "And you don't like water." He closed his eyes, not sure at all what to expect.

"...You really put a lot of thought into that one, didn't you?" Chloe asked softly.

Senel nodded. "Yeah."

Chloe looked up at him. "I think I can put up with 'Kitten'. So long as its from you."

Senel chuckled, feeling more than a little relieved. "I won't say it in public, if that's any consolation."

Chloe leaned back against him. "W-Was that all?" she asked, suddenly sounding shy.

"No," Senel said softly. _Well, no going back now. _ He felt himself suddenly feeling shy, too. Sure, he had said something like this in the past, but it had always been a response to Chloe first saying it. This would be the first time he would make such an admission on his own. Suddenly, Norma's voice sounded in his head: _You've already made poor C wait for your sorry butt..._

He cleared his throat. "My love," he said barely above a whisper.

Chloe turned to face him, her eyes shining. Senel suddenly became that much more aware of their surroundings; the gentle sound of the waves crashing against the cliff-side, the cool moist breeze, the bright stars and crescent moon above them, the sounds of laughter in the reception hall.

"Senel..."

Her voice tugged him forward and his lips quickly found hers.

After a moment she pulled away and said, "I think that's a name that fits both of us."

...xXx...

Xonel: Gah! Ultra cheesy and not my best work in my opinion. Hopefully its not as bad as I think it is.

Reviews are always appreciated, but whether you leave one or not, thank you for reading! :)


End file.
